Maleah
Meaning of Maleah
Maleah, pronounced mah-LEE-uh, is a contemporary variant of the Hawaiian name Malia— itself the island rendering of the Latin-infused Maria, ultimately traced to the Hebrew Miryam, “beloved” or “wished-for child.” By replacing the final-a with an airy “-eah,” the name acquires a lilting cadence that evokes la brisa tropical while still echoing the Marian devotion long cherished in Latin American and Mediterranean cultures. Its sociolinguistic journey in the United States charts a graceful arc: a quiet presence in the late 1950s, a measured rise that crested at rank 514 in 2009, and a recent settling into the mid-700s—an ebb and flow that mirrors the rhythmic tides of naming fashion and preserves Maleah’s aura of familiar-yet-distinctive. Beyond statistics, the name carries layered associations: the youthful poise of Malia Obama, the gentle symbolism of the ocean, and the enduring sanctity of Maria, all converging into a single, melodious choice that offers parents a bridge between Polynesian imagery and the classical dignity of its Latin progenitor.
Pronunciation
English
- Pronunced as mah-LEE-uh (/mɑˈliə/)
U.S. Popularity Chart
States Popularity Chart
