The Southeast Asian country of Malaysia is home to about 34 million people, more than 60% of whom are Muslim.
So it’s not surprising that the boy names Muhammad and Abdul and the girl names Nur and Siti “continue to top Malaysia’s baby name charts,” according to the director-general of Malaysia’s National Registration Department. Popular picks such as these are “commonly followed by a second name,” he noted.
(Siti — the one non-Arabic name among the top four — is the Malay form of the Hindu name Sita, which means “furrow” in Sanskrit. About 6% of Malaysia’s residents are Hindu.)
The names Aisyah, Maryam, and Rayyan are also trendy in Malaysia right now, as is the practice of altering the spelling of traditional names, “with Amir now often spelled as Ameer and Zahra as Zara.”
Sources:
- Yusof, Amanina Mohamad. “Muhammad, Abdul, Nur And Siti: Malaysia’s Timeless Baby Name Favourites.” Bernama 26 Mar. 2025.
- Malaysia – Wikipedia
- Sita – Behind the Name
Image: Adapted from Flag of Malaysia (public domain)
