Zekiel
Masculine · “God strengthens”
Zekiel is Ezekiel with the front worn off — the way English has been trimming long biblical names for centuries, taking Bartholomew to Bart and Nathaniel to Nate. What remains is the working half of a Hebrew sentence about strength.
How old is the name Zekiel?
Zekiel first appears in US birth records in 1989 — 36 years ago. The typical Zekiel is a kid of about 7 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Zekiel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Zekiel most popular?
Zekiel peaked in 2023, reaching #2315 nationally. Today it ranks #2765, 450 places below that high. See the whole 2023 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yechezkel to Zekiel
The story of Zekiel
Ezekiel is one of the major prophets, writing from exile in Babylon, and his book contains some of the strangest and most vivid imagery in the Hebrew Bible — the wheels within wheels, the valley of dry bones. English took the name up after the Reformation along with the rest of the prophets, and American use has kept it steadily. Zekiel is a recent American formation, and it follows the same instinct that made Zeke a name in its own right: the front of the word is doing no work that anyone can hear, so it goes.
Meaning
God strengthens
Hebrew Yechezkel joins a form of chazak, 'to be strong, to strengthen', with El, 'God'. The reading is undisputed. Zekiel keeps the second and third syllables and loses the first, which means it keeps both halves of the meaning intact — an unusual piece of luck for a trimmed name.
How the name formed
- Yechezkel
- Ezekiel
- Zekiel
Related forms: Yechezkel · Ezequiel · Ezekiel
Pronouncing Zekiel
ZEE-kee-el
Three syllables, stress on the first. Ezekiel puts the stress on the second — ih-ZEE-kee-el — so trimming the front also moves the emphasis, which is why the two names sound less alike than they look.
Nicknames for Zekiel
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
- 1989
- Most boys named
- 202360 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2315reached in 2023
- Change vs 2024
- +31.4%46 in 2025, from 35
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.
Zekiel in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Yechezkel in Hebrew — related form
- Ezequiel in Spanish — related form
- Ezekiel in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Arizona.
Zekiels among us
people named Zekiel are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 37,132 born in 2025 was named Zekiel
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 Isabella test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Zekiel's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Isabella climbed just as high around 2004, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Isabella's path sketches the road Zekiel is walking now.
Zekiel 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 Zekiel is headed
Zekiel is easing off slowly — about 17% fewer babies a year by 2030 if the trend continues. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Zekiel beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Zekiel in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Zeke is a ready short form that stands on its own as a name.
- The meaning survives the trimming completely, which most shortened names cannot say.
- Distinctive on paper while being instantly familiar in sound.
- Ezekiel is the standard name, so this one will be lengthened by people writing it down.
- It reads as a nickname to anyone who knows the full form, which is most people.
- Zekiel, Zeke and Ezekiel will all be used for the same child by different relatives.
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What they receive
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Zekiel
Masculine · #2765 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Zekiels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Zekiel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Zekiel in 2025?
- Zekiel ranks #2765 among US boy names in 2025, with 46 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Zekiel?
- About 1 in every 37,132 US boys born in 2025 was named Zekiel — 46 in all.
- Will my child share the name Zekiel with classmates?
- Zekiel will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Zekiel
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Stephon#2765 · Jafet#2765 · Dwight#2765 · Sheldon#2765 · Mills#2765 · Asante#2765 · Arlin#2765 · Yandel#2765
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Zekiel? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Zekiel and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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