Malcolm

Malcolm is Scottish to its marrow, a shortened form of Mael Coluim, meaning devotee of Saint Columba, the sixth-century Irish monk who carried Christianity to the Highlands. Four medieval Scottish kings wore the name, and Shakespeare wrote one into Macbeth. In the twentieth century Malcolm X reshaped its resonance for American ears, and the sitcom Malcolm in the Middle gave it a new generation of affection. Two sturdy syllables, an old ballad and a modern mind stacked in the same word. Currently in the low 300s, it remains distinctive without ever feeling forced.