Malabar

Used in: 1 country

Origin: Malayalam

From Arabic مَلَبَار (malabār), first attested in the writings of Iranian scholar Al-Biruni (c. 11th century). The second element is Arabic بَرّ (barr, “land, ground”) or Persian بار (bâr, “coast”), and the first element is the same as the Byzantine Greek toponym Μαλέ (Malé), mentioned by traveller Cosmas Indicopleustes in the 5th century as a source of pepper exports, concording with modern-day pepper cultivation on the Malabar coast. Mala ~ Male is, in turn, borrowed from Malayalam മല (mala, “mountain”). This is also the source of the name of the language: മലയാളം (malayāḷaṁ, literally “mountain place”). Compare Zanzibar for a possibly similar word formation.

Etymology: Wiktionary (CC-BY-SA)

Name Variants & Related

Malabard Derived from Malabar
Malaba Root name
Baby Malayalam origin
Balachandran Malayalam origin
Cochin Malayalam origin
Eapen Malayalam origin
Geevarghese Malayalam origin
Kuriakose Malayalam origin
Kuruvilla Malayalam origin
Lukose Malayalam origin

Popularity by Country

Malabar

Rank #248113

INSEE Death Records 1970-2024 ↗

Similar Names to Malabar

Last names that start with M, sorted by popularity.

No related names found.