NameCensus.
Very Rare

Zekiel

Masculine name derived from Hebrew meaning "God strengthens".

Name Census estimates that about 677 living Americans carry the first name Zekiel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Zekiel today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Zekiel births was 2023 (60 babies).

This page is the full Name Census profile for Zekiel. 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

677

~ 1 in 506,284 Americans

Peak year

2023

60 babies that year

Average age

11

years old

2024 SSA rank

#3,380

Tracked since 1989

Popularity

Zekiel: popularity over time

The SSA tracks Zekiel from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 283 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.

Babies born per year

0153045601990199520002005201020152020

Decades

Zekiel 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 Zekiel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.

DecadeMaleFemaleTotal
1980s707
1990s27027
2000s1060106
2010s2830283
2020s2600260

Geography

Where Zekiels live

The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Zekiel, while Illinois, Arizona, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.

Origin

Meaning and history of Zekiel

The name Zekiel is derived from the Hebrew name Yechezkel, which means "God strengthens" or "God will strengthen." It originated in ancient Israel and is a variation of the biblical name Ezekiel, one of the major prophets in the Hebrew Bible.

The name Ezekiel first appeared in the biblical Book of Ezekiel, which is believed to have been written during the Babylonian exile in the 6th century BCE. Ezekiel was a Hebrew prophet who lived in Babylon and delivered God's message to the exiled Israelites.

One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Zekiel can be found in the Book of Nehemiah, which mentions a man named Zekiel ben Shalmai, who was among those who returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian exile in the 5th century BCE.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Zekiel. One of the most famous was Zekiel ben Yacob, a Jewish scholar and philosopher who lived in Spain during the 12th century. He was known for his work on Hebrew grammar and his contributions to the study of the Talmud.

Another notable figure with the name Zekiel was Zekiel ben Yehuda, a prominent rabbi and scholar who lived in Germany in the 13th century. He was known for his commentary on the Torah and his writings on Jewish law.

In the 17th century, there was a Dutch painter named Zekiel van Strijen, who was known for his landscapes and still-life paintings. He was born in 1623 and died in 1688.

In more recent times, Zekiel Landau was a prominent author and journalist who lived in Israel during the 20th century. He was born in 1913 and died in 1995, and was known for his works on Zionism and Israeli history.

Another notable individual named Zekiel was Zekiel Freedman, an American businessman and philanthropist who lived from 1908 to 2001. He was the co-founder of the Meridian Corporate Center in New Jersey and was known for his support of various charitable causes.

People

Zekiel + last name combinations

How many people share a full name with Zekiel 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

Zekiel: questions and answers

How many people in the U.S. are named Zekiel?

Name Census puts the figure at roughly 677 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Zekiel 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 506,284 US residents.

Is Zekiel a common name?

We classify Zekiel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 683 babies have been registered with this name.

When was Zekiel most popular?

The single biggest year for Zekiel was 2023, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Zekiel is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.

Is Zekiel a male name?

Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Zekiel 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.

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