Mekel
A masculine given name of unknown origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 153 living Americans carry the first name Mekel. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Mekel today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mekel births was 1999 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mekel. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
153
~ 1 in 2,240,224 Americans
Peak year
1999
15 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,502
Tracked since 1990
Census
Mekel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 235 people with the first name Mekel, which placed it at #34,648 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#34,648
National first-name rank
People counted
235
235 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
69.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mekel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mekel is Black at 69.4%. The next largest groups are White (14.0%) and Hispanic (8.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Mekel described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Mekel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American69.4% · 163
- White14.0% · 33
- Hispanic or Latino8.1% · 19
- Two or more races7.2% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Mekel
Mekel leans heavily male at 89.7% of total registrations, but 16 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mekel as a male name
- Ranked #13,502 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (13 births)
Mekel as a female name
- Ranked #16,009 in 1999
- 5 female births in 1999
- Peak: 1997 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mekel on both sides of the split. Of the 232 people counted with this name, 151 were male (65.1%) and 81 were female (34.9%).
Popularity
Mekel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mekel from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 77 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mekel by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mekel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mekel
The name Mekel has its origins in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic languages, tracing back to the biblical era around the 6th century BCE. It is derived from the Hebrew word "mekal," which means "weigher" or "one who weighs." This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with professions involving weighing or measurement in ancient times.
In the Old Testament of the Bible, the name Mekel is mentioned as a personal name, though details about its significance or any specific individuals bearing this name are scarce. Some scholars speculate that it may have been a common name among certain tribes or clans in the region during that period.
The earliest recorded use of the name Mekel can be found in ancient Aramaic inscriptions and documents from the Persian Empire, dating back to around the 5th century BCE. These inscriptions often recorded names of individuals, providing evidence of the name's existence and usage in that era.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Mekel was a scribe and scholar who lived in Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II, around 600 BCE. His writings and translations of ancient texts have contributed to our understanding of the Babylonian culture and language.
In the 3rd century BCE, a prominent Jewish scholar and philosopher named Mekel ben Yitzchak was active in Alexandria, Egypt. He is known for his contributions to the fields of mathematics and astronomy, as well as his interpretations of Jewish scriptures.
During the Middle Ages, a renowned Jewish poet and mystic named Mekel ben Shlomo lived in Spain in the 12th century. His works, written in Hebrew and Aramaic, explored themes of spirituality and the human condition, and he is considered a influential figure in the development of Jewish mysticism.
In the 16th century, a Turkic merchant and explorer named Mekel Bey traveled extensively throughout the Ottoman Empire and neighboring regions. His detailed accounts of his travels and observations of different cultures and trade routes have provided valuable insights into the social and economic landscape of that era.
Another notable individual bearing the name Mekel was a 19th century Mesopotamian archaeologist and linguist named Mekel al-Khuri. His pioneering work in deciphering ancient Sumerian and Akkadian texts laid the foundation for modern understanding of these ancient civilizations.
While the name Mekel has its roots in ancient Hebrew and Aramaic cultures, its usage has been documented across various regions and time periods, often associated with scholarly pursuits, exploration, and the preservation of knowledge and culture.
People
Mekel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mekel as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mekel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mekel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 153 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mekel going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 2,240,224 US residents.
Is Mekel a common name?
We classify Mekel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 155 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mekel most popular?
The single biggest year for Mekel was 1999, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mekel is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mekel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 235 people with the name Mekel, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,648 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Mekel in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Mekel?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Mekel on both sides of the split. Of the 232 people counted with this name, 151 were male (65.1%) and 81 were female (34.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Mekel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mekel is Black at 69.4%. The next largest groups are White (14.0%) and Hispanic (8.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Mekel most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mekel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.4% (163 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mekel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mekel a male name?
Yes, 89.7% of people registered as Mekel in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Mekel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mekel in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mekel can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Mekel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.