Mallory

Where Mallory comes from

From an Anglo-Norman nickname for an unfortunate person, from Old French maleure, malheure (“unhappy, unlucky”) (whence French malheur), from mal (“bad”) + eur (“fortune”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Mallory
  • From a surname
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Mallory through the years
  1. 1938
    First appearance
    #4,342 among girls with 5 babies, the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1961
    Mostly girls from here
    Until now more boys than girls got the name. From this year on, more girls have.
  3. 1982
    Around this time: Family Ties
    TV, 1982 · Source
  4. 1986
    Peak, #83
    3,325 babies named Mallory, the most in any year.
  5. 1989
    Mallory Jansen born
    Australian actress
  6. 1998
    Mallory Swanson born
    American soccer player
In the dictionary
  • A unisex given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Mallory Swanson · American soccer player, born 1998
  • Mallory Jansen · Australian actress, born 1989
  • Mallory Burdette · American tennis player, born 1991
  • Mallory Franklin · British slalom canoeist, born 1994
  • Mallory Comerford · American swimmer, born 1997

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record. Events show what happened around then, not why parents chose the name.