Malaysia’s most popular baby names 2016

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Are traditional baby names still popular?

Mohamed and Nor are once again the most popular baby names in Malaysia. They have dominated year after year, but don’t let that trick you into thinking Malaysian parents play it safe.

Increasingly, babies with the first names Mohamed or Nor invariably have a second name that is unique, unusual or simply not traditionally Malay or Muslim, and the trend is even more pronounced this year. Nor Amanda, Nor Keisha and Mohamed Aidan will find themselves in good company with plenty of classmates sporting names from various cultures around the world when they finally get to school.

Not surprisingly, multicultural names such as Amanda, Aryan, Hannah, Daniel and Arianna continue to rank well, both as first and second names. They are favoured by Malaysian parents from every ethnic community.

At the same time, this year marked a noticeable drop in popularity for a few traditional favourites. Zara and Hannah are still popular names for babies, but no longer rank as highly as they did in the past. Sarah and Adelia have dropped out completely after being regulars in our top names list for several years. Similarly, for boys, Danish and Rayyan were popular just a few short years ago, but we see much less of them this year.

What are the new names that parents like?

Parents can be roughly split into three main groups this year. The largest group is made up of parents with a definite preference for modern names. Their picks for their babies are not uncommon but still fresh. These include Anas, Iyad and Hadif for boys, and Amirah, Nuha, Maya and Nadia for girls.

In contrast, retro names like Maryam and Aminah for girls, as well as Harun, Hassan and Maheswaran for boys, continue to make their presence felt. They have been up-and-comers in the past two years, and continue their climb up our list this year. This year, we also saw Lana and Alanna join this tribe of old-fashioned names that are on the rise.

Then there are parents who are truly after a unique or uncommon name for their little one. These names will never make it to our top 50 of the year, but they do stand out. Mawar, Aurora, Callista, Claretta, Jebat, Zephur, Elrond, Asher, Farrell and Kingsley are definitely joining our list of unique baby names.

Top 25 boys' names

  1. Mohamed+0
  2. Ahmad+0
  3. Aidan+7
  4. Adam +0
  5. Firash+17
  6. Aryanlast seen: 2014
  7. Izz+2
  8. Umar -2
  9. Aqil -2
  10. Yusuf +10
  11. Naufallast seen: 2014
  12. Ashrafflast seen: 2013
  13. Aqifnew
  1. Anasnew
  2. Hadifnew
  3. Harraz new
  4. Iyad new
  5. Zarif new
  6. Amar-16
  7. Jayden-8
  8. Abdul-8
  9. Daniel-7
  10. Mikhail-5
  11. Emir-2
  12. Iman-2

Top 25 girls' names

  1. Nor +0
  2. Aishah +1
  3. Sophia +5
  4. Maryam+17
  5. Siti -1
  6. Dhia+4
  7. Nayla +5
  8. Arianna+5
  9. Alicia +8
  10. Hannah -8
  11. Zara -6
  12. Nurul -5
  13. Alya -2
  1. Aminah new
  2. Nuhanew
  3. Amirahnew
  4. Keisha-3
  5. Arissalast seen: 2014
  6. Humairalast seen: 2014
  7. Isabel new
  8. Raisya new
  9. Puteri -16
  10. Marissalast seen: 2014
  11. Maya new
  12. Nadia new

Names drawn from BabyCenter parents who registered with our site in 2016.

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