Mordecai
Masculine · “of Marduk”
Mordecai is probably named for Marduk, the chief god of Babylon — a Jewish hero of the exile carrying a Babylonian deity in his name.
How old is the name Mordecai?
Mordecai first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Mordecai is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 1,400 people named Mordecai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mordecai most popular?
Mordecai peaked in 2022, reaching #1706 nationally. Today it ranks #2091, 385 places below that high. See the whole 2022 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Marduk to Mordecai
The story of Mordecai
Esther's cousin refuses to bow to Haman and the whole plot follows from it; that his name honors a Babylonian god is exactly the kind of detail the book of Esther, set in a Persian court and never mentioning God, is full of. Mordecai appears in American records in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
of Marduk
Most scholars derive it from the Babylonian Marduk, the patron god of Babylon, in the form Marduka, which is attested as a Persian-period personal name. A Hebrew derivation from mor, 'myrrh', is proposed but weaker. The Babylonian route is the mainstream reading.
How the name formed
- Marduk
- Marduka
- Mordecai
Related forms: מרדכי · Motke · Mordechai
Pronouncing Mordecai
MOR-duh-ky
Three syllables, stress on the first. Hebrew Mordechai stresses the last, mor-de-KHAI.
Nicknames for Mordecai
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 202380 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1706reached in 2022
- Change vs 2023
- −12.5%70 in 2025, from 80
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Mordecai in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- מרדכי in Hebrew — transliteration
- Motke in Yiddish — related form
- Mordechai in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Mordecais among us
people named Mordecai are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 24,401 born in 2025 was named Mordecai
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Markese test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mordecai's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Markese climbed just as high around 1995, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Markese's path sketches the road Mordecai is walking now.
Mordecai sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Mordecai is headed
Mordecai should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Mordecai beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mordecai in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That a Jewish hero of the exile carries a Babylonian god's name is a first-rate fact.
- Mordy and Motti are two short forms, both in real use.
- The book of Esther is one of the strongest narratives in the canon.
- Three syllables and an unfamiliar spelling will need dictating.
- It reads as specifically Jewish and traditional.
- Mordecai and Mordechai are both in circulation.
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What they receive
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Mordecai
Masculine · #2091 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mordecais are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Mordecai are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mordecai in 2025?
- Mordecai ranks #2091 among US boy names in 2025, with 70 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mordecai?
- About 1 in every 24,401 US boys born in 2025 was named Mordecai — 70 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mordecai with classmates?
- Mordecai will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mordecai
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ziaire#2091 · Knoxx#2091 · Omer#2091 · Emile#2091 · Crawford#2091 · Ahron#2091 · Brenton#2091 · Mykel#2091
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mordecai? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mordecai and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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