Baby name
Malea
/mah · LEH · ah/
Meaning
“Beloved or sea of bitterness”
Variant of Malia or Malea, from the Hawaiian Malia, itself a form of Mary; the spelling variant signals a broader, less specifically Hawaiian use.
How it ages.
Soft and melodic; the variant spelling broadens its appeal but dilutes the Hawaiian identity.
The cultural moment.
Low-frequency use in the US and Germany from the 2000s onward.