Head to head · Boys' names
Edgar vs Hezekiah
#486 vs #485 in 2025
Hezekiah is a whisker ahead (#485 vs #486 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Hezekiah is back after a long quiet spell, Edgar is stepping back from its peak.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Hezekiah leads 3 measures of 6; Edgar leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Edgar #60, Hezekiah #601 — Edgar higher
- 1890s: Edgar #67, Hezekiah #599 — Edgar higher
- 1900s: Edgar #78, Hezekiah #753 — Edgar higher
- 1910s: Edgar #86, Hezekiah #964 — Edgar higher
- 1920s: Edgar #100, Hezekiah #1140 — Edgar higher
- 1930s: Edgar #139, Hezekiah #1288 — Edgar higher
- 1940s: Edgar #181, Hezekiah #1314 — Edgar higher
- 1950s: Edgar #242, Hezekiah #1585 — Edgar higher
- 1960s: Edgar #301, Hezekiah #2225 — Edgar higher
- 1970s: Edgar #285, Hezekiah #2746 — Edgar higher
- 1980s: Edgar #223, Hezekiah #3219 — Edgar higher
- 1990s: Edgar #153, Hezekiah #2009 — Edgar higher
- 2000s: Edgar #176, Hezekiah #989 — Edgar higher
- 2010s: Edgar #308, Hezekiah #746 — Edgar higher
- 2020s: Edgar #433, Hezekiah #540 — Edgar higher
Edgar stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Edgar | Hezekiah |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #60 | #601 |
| 1890s | #67 | #599 |
| 1900s | #78 | #753 |
| 1910s | #86 | #964 |
| 1920s | #100 | #1140 |
| 1930s | #139 | #1288 |
| 1940s | #181 | #1314 |
| 1950s | #242 | #1585 |
| 1960s | #301 | #2225 |
| 1970s | #285 | #2746 |
| 1980s | #223 | #3219 |
| 1990s | #153 | #2009 |
| 2000s | #176 | #989 |
| 2010s | #308 | #746 |
| 2020s | #433 | #540 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Edgar
rich spear; prosperity-spear
Two Old English elements: a word meaning wealth or good fortune, and the word for a spear. Spear names were the largest family in old Germanic naming, because a spear was the one weapon every free man owned, and the compounds were compliments rather than descriptions.
Eadgar → Edgar
How it traveled
Edgar the Peaceable was crowned late — he had been king for fourteen years before the ceremony — and the service that was written for him, apparently by Dunstan, is the reason English coronations look the way they do. The order of it is essentially unchanged: the recognition, the oath, the anointing with oil under a canopy, the delivery of the regalia, the crowning, the enthroning, the homage.
Hezekiah
Yah strengthens, or my strength is Yah
From the Hebrew elements ḥazaq, to be strong or to strengthen, and Yah, a short form of the divine name. The same ḥazaq sits inside Ezekiel and Hizkiah.
Ḥizqiyyahu → Ezekias → Ezechias → Hezekiah
How it traveled
The Hebrew form is Ḥizqiyyahu, borne by the thirteenth king of Judah, son of Ahaz, who reformed the Temple worship and survived Sennacherib's siege — an episode narrated three separate times in the Hebrew Bible. Greek translators rendered it Ezekias, and Latin Ezechias, which is why the Romance languages still say Ezequías and Ezequias rather than anything close to the English form.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Edgar
ED-gar
Two syllables with the stress at the front in English. Spanish speakers say ed-GAR with the weight at the back, and both are heard in American families — often within the same one.
- Ed — The front of the name, and the everyday form for most bearers.
- Eddie — The affectionate form, shared with several unrelated names.
- Gary — Built from the back of the name; used in some American families as a deliberate alternative to Ed.
Hezekiah
hez-uh-KY-uh
Four syllables, stress on the third. The English pronunciation is settled and has been for centuries; the Spanish and Portuguese forms sound quite different, so bilingual families may want to decide which one they are using.
- Hez — The most direct clip, informal, used within families and among friends.
- Zeke — Informal; also attaches to Ezekiel, so it rarely identifies the full name on its own.
- Kiah — Taken from the middle of the name; also used as a given name in its own right.
- Hezzy — A softer household form, mostly used with small children.
- Also Ki.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Edgar if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsEdgar is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesEdgar is 2 syllables to Hezekiah's 4
Choose Hezekiah if you want…
- a name on the way upup 93 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itHezekiah runs 4 syllables, Edgar 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Hez, Zeke and Kiah
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Edgar
Strengths
- It is spelled identically in English, Spanish, French and German.
- Ed and Eddie are both ready-made and need no explanation anywhere.
- The meaning is documented all the way back and has not shifted.
To consider
- English and Spanish stress it differently, so a bilingual family hears two versions of one name.
- The horror writer is a permanent association for English-speaking readers.
- It was recorded for daughters too in earlier decades, though very rarely.
Hezekiah
Strengths
- One fixed English spelling, unchanged since the earliest English Bibles, so there is no variant war to lose.
- A documented history running back to an eighth-century BC king of Judah, with an unbroken written record ever since.
- Several established short forms already in real use — Hez, Zeke, Kiah — so the four syllables are optional in daily life.
To consider
- Four syllables and an unusual shape mean it will be spelled out and repeated at doctors' offices, on forms and over the phone. Hezekia and Hesekiah are the common misfires.
- The biblical anchor is strong and specific. In some settings the name will read straightforwardly as a statement of faith, which suits some families and not others.
- It is close enough to Ezekiel, Zechariah and Zephaniah that people who half-remember it will reach for the wrong one, and Zeke as a nickname does nothing to clear that up.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Edgar and Hezekiah in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Edgar and Hezekiah — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Edgar or Hezekiah — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Edgar or Hezekiah?
- Hezekiah, in 2025: Hezekiah ranked #485 with 621 babies; Edgar ranked #486 with 617 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Edgar or Hezekiah?
- Hezekiah. Over the last five years Edgar moved down 95 places; Hezekiah moved up 93 places.
- Which is the older name, Edgar or Hezekiah?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Edgar and Hezekiah?
- About 95,500 people named Edgar are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 9,600 people named Hezekiah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Edgars or Hezekiahs in the classroom?
- Edgar will almost certainly be the only one in school. Hezekiah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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