Zeke
Masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God strengthens".
Name Census estimates that about 7,609 living Americans carry the first name Zeke. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zeke today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zeke births was 2022 (459 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Zeke. 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.
Key insights
- • Zeke is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
7.6K
~ 1 in 45,046 Americans
Peak year
2022
459 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#732
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Zeke: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Zeke from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,202 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Zeke remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Zeke 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 Zeke during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Zekes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 43 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Zeke, while Montana, Mississippi, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 123 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Zeke
The given name Zeke is a diminutive form of the Hebrew name Ezekiel, which means "God will strengthen" or "God strengthens." The name Ezekiel is derived from the Hebrew words "chazaq" meaning "to be strong" and "el" meaning "God." The earliest known use of the name Ezekiel dates back to the 6th century BC, when it was borne by the Biblical prophet Ezekiel, who lived during the Babylonian captivity of the Israelites.
The name Ezekiel appears in several ancient texts, including the Book of Ezekiel in the Hebrew Bible and the Old Testament. The prophet Ezekiel is renowned for his powerful visions and prophecies, which are documented in the biblical book that bears his name. His prophecies often focused on the restoration of the Israelites and the establishment of a new covenant with God.
The shortened form, Zeke, emerged as a nickname in the 19th century, particularly in English-speaking countries. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Zeke can be found in the 1837 novel "The Clockmaker" by Thomas Chandler Haliburton, where a character named Zeke Slick is mentioned.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Zeke. Here are five examples:
1. Zeke Upshaw (1995-2018), an American professional basketball player who played in the NBA G League.
2. Zeke Bratkowski (1931-2021), an American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) from 1953 to 1971.
3. Zeke Zelebak (1885-1973), an American baseball player who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1909 to 1914.
4. Zeke Gossett (1919-2003), an American football player who played in the NFL from 1941 to 1951.
5. Zeke Moore (1902-1981), an American jazz musician and bandleader active in the 1920s and 1930s.
While the name Zeke has remained relatively less common compared to its longer form, Ezekiel, it has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly in the United States, as a unique and distinctive name with a strong biblical connection.
People
Zeke + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Zeke as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Z
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Zeke: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zeke?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,609 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zeke 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 45,046 US residents.
Is Zeke a common name?
We classify Zeke as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,055 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Zeke most popular?
The single biggest year for Zeke was 2022, when 459 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zeke is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Zeke a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zeke 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.
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.