Malcolm
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Scottish Gaelic or Goidelic, variant of Calum and Callum, feminine equivalent Malcolmina, equivalent to Scottish Gaelic Maol Chaluim. Royal name in Scotland, anglicised from various historical Goidelic names equivalent to Scottish Gaelic Maol Chaluim or Calum, Irish Maol Colm, Middle Irish Máel Coluim, Old Irish Máel Columb (literally “devotee of [Saint] Columba”); proper nouns derived from máel (“tonsured”) from Proto-Celtic *mailos, and columb (“dove”) from Latin columbus.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Malcolm (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Malcolm has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2013. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | 16 |
| 1999 | 19 |
| 2000 | 15 |
| 2001 | 21 |
| 2002 | 23 |
| 2003 | 24 |
| 2004 | 26 |
| 2005 | 23 |
| 2006 | 22 |
| 2007 | 26 |
| 2008 | 26 |
| 2009 | 24 |
| 2010 | 25 |
| 2011 | 19 |
| 2012 | 28 |
| 2013 | 33 |
| 2014 | 32 |
| 2015 | 30 |
| 2016 | 21 |
| 2017 | 31 |
| 2018 | 22 |
| 2019 | 22 |
| 2020 | 29 |
| 2021 | 33 |
| 2022 | 30 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Men and boys |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 234 |
| 2000 | 249 |
| 2001 | 274 |
| 2002 | 298 |
| 2003 | 323 |
| 2004 | 353 |
| 2005 | 372 |
| 2006 | 385 |
| 2007 | 411 |
| 2008 | 436 |
| 2009 | 461 |
| 2010 | 487 |
| 2011 | 510 |
| 2012 | 540 |
| 2013 | 575 |
| 2014 | 606 |
| 2015 | 637 |
| 2016 | 654 |
| 2017 | 685 |
| 2018 | 709 |
| 2019 | 735 |
| 2020 | 767 |
Malcolm in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Malcolm.Hi! My name is Malcolm.
- Har du träffat Malcolm? Han började jobba här i måndags.Have you met Malcolm? He started working here on Monday.
- Malcolm har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Malcolm has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Malcolms mamma är lärare.Malcolm's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Malcolms mamma is Malcolm's mum.
More names
Questions about Malcolm
How do you pronounce Malcolm in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Malcolm in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Malcolm mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a male given name from Scottish Gaelic or Goidelic, variant of Calum and Callum, feminine equivalent Malcolmina, equivalent to Scottish Gaelic Maol Chaluim. Royal name in Scotland, anglicised from various historical Goidelic names equivalent to Scottish Gaelic Maol Chaluim or Calum, Irish Maol Colm, Middle Irish Máel Coluim, Old Irish Máel Columb (literally “devotee of [Saint] Columba”); proper nouns derived from máel (“tonsured”) from Proto-Celtic *mailos, and columb (“dove”) from Latin columbus.
How popular is Malcolm in Sweden?
30 babies were named Malcolm in 2022. In 2020, 767 people in Sweden had Malcolm as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2013 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.