Meshilem
A Hebrew masculine given name meaning "he who completes" or "perfecter".
Name Census estimates that about 151 living Americans carry the first name Meshilem. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Meshilem today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Meshilem births was 2016 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Meshilem. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Meshilem with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
151
~ 1 in 2,269,896 Americans
Peak year
2016
33 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,544
Tracked since 2015
Popularity
Meshilem: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Meshilem from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 93 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Meshilem remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Meshilem 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 Meshilem during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Meshilems live
Origin
Meaning and history of Meshilem
The name Meshilem has its origins in the ancient Hebrew language and culture. It is derived from the Hebrew root "sh-l-m" which means "to be complete" or "to be whole." The name Meshilem can be interpreted as "the one who completes" or "the one who brings wholeness."
Meshilem was a relatively uncommon name in ancient times, but it can be found in some historical records and texts. One of the earliest known references to the name Meshilem comes from the Talmud, a central text of Rabbinic Judaism. The Talmud mentions a scholar named Meshilem who lived in the 3rd century CE.
In the Middle Ages, there are records of a few notable individuals bearing the name Meshilem. One such person was Meshilem ben Solomon, a prominent Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in the 12th century in Provence, France. He wrote several works on Jewish law and philosophy.
Another historical figure named Meshilem was Meshilem ben Yitzchak, who lived in the 13th century. He was a prominent Jewish poet and liturgist from Spain. Some of his poetic works are still recited in synagogues today.
In more recent times, one of the most famous individuals named Meshilem was Meshilem Peress, a Russian-born Jewish author and journalist who lived from 1872 to 1920. He was a prolific writer and published numerous works on Jewish history, culture, and Zionism.
Another notable Meshilem was Meshilem Feuerstein, an Austrian-born Jewish educator and philanthropist who lived from 1887 to 1965. He played a significant role in establishing Jewish educational institutions in Palestine (now Israel) in the early 20th century.
While the name Meshilem is not as common today as it once was, it continues to be used within certain Jewish communities, particularly those with Sephardic or Mizrahi heritage. The name carries a deep historical and cultural significance, reflecting the values of completeness, wholeness, and spiritual fulfillment in the Hebrew tradition.
People
Meshilem + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Meshilem 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
Meshilem: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Meshilem?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 151 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Meshilem 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 2,269,896 US residents.
Is Meshilem a common name?
We classify Meshilem as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 152 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Meshilem most popular?
The single biggest year for Meshilem was 2016, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Meshilem is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Meshilem in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Meshilem a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Meshilem 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 Meshilem still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Meshilem 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 Meshilem 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Meshilem as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.