Malcolm

M3A1L1C3O1L1M3
/ˈmæl.kəm/

proper noun

A male given name from Scottish Gaelic or Goidelic, variant of Calum and Callum, feminine equivalent Malcolmina, equivalent to Scottish Gaelic Maol Chaluim.

OriginGoidelic ← Scottish Gaelic Maol ← Irish Maol →
CommonScrabble 13
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Meanings

proper noun
  1. A male given name from Scottish Gaelic or Goidelic, variant of Calum and Callum, feminine equivalent Malcolmina, equivalent to Scottish Gaelic Maol Chaluim.

    We will establish our estate upon / Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter / The Prince of Cumberland.

    c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act I, scene iv]
  2. A surname.
  3. A place name:
    1. A minor city in Poweshiek County, Iowa, United States.
    2. An unincorporated community in Charles County, Maryland, United States.
    3. A village in Lancaster County, Nebraska, United States.
    4. An abandoned town in the Shire of Leonora, Goldfields-Esperance region, Western Australia.

Origin

  1. Latincolumbus
  2. Proto-Celtic*mailos
  3. Old IrishMáel Columb
  4. Middle IrishMáel Coluim
  5. IrishMaol
  6. Scottish GaelicMaol
  7. Goidelic
  8. EnglishMalcolm

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.

More words from Goidelic, Scottish Gaelic, Irish

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

Malcolm. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Malcolm

MLA

“Malcolm.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Malcolm. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Malcolm,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Malcolm.

Source: Malcolm on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.