| Malachi | Micah | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | My messenger | who is like Yahweh? |
| Origin | Hebrew | hebrew |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | MAL-uh-ky | MY-kah |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 1946 |
| Peak year | 2006 (2,776) | 2022 (3,969) |
| In 2025 | 2,692 | 3,817 |
| Trend | Steady | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Malachi | Micah |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 14,631 | 22,651 |
| 2010s | 24,588 | 36,739 |
| 2000s | 20,780 | 27,018 |
| 1990s | 3,525 | 13,754 |
| 1980s | 746 | 11,031 |
| 1970s | 390 | 6,979 |
| 1960s | 108 | 1,134 |
| 1950s | 155 | 238 |
| 1940s | 183 | 27 |
| 1930s | 172 | 0 |
| 1920s | 185 | 0 |
| 1910s | 156 | 0 |
| 1900s | 51 | 0 |
| 1890s | 30 | 0 |
| 1880s | 58 | 0 |
From the Hebrew Malʾakhi, “my messenger.” Malachi is the last of the Hebrew prophets.
A shortened form of Micaiah (Mikayahu), built as a rhetorical question: mi 'who' + ka 'like' + Yah (short for Yahweh), 'Who is like Yah(weh)?' It is not a literal statement but a theophoric name affirming God's incomparability. Distinct from Michael, which uses El rather than Yah.
Micah is more popular than Malachi today: about 3,817 US babies were given the name Micah in 2025, compared with 2,692 named Malachi.
Malachi means My messenger (Hebrew origin), while Micah means who is like Yahweh? (hebrew origin).
In US records, Malachi first appears in 1880 and Micah in 1946, so Malachi has the longer recorded history.