Melchizedek
A Hebrew name meaning "king of righteousness" or "king of justice".
Name Census estimates that about 414 living Americans carry the first name Melchizedek. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Melchizedek today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melchizedek births was 2019 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melchizedek. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Melchizedek with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
414
~ 1 in 827,909 Americans
Peak year
2019
24 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,808
Tracked since 1973
Census
Melchizedek in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 307 people with the first name Melchizedek, which placed it at #29,019 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#29,019
National first-name rank
People counted
307
307 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
54.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melchizedek
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melchizedek is Black at 54.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.3%) and White (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Melchizedek described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Melchizedek at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American54.4% · 167
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.3% · 50
- White11.1% · 34
- Hispanic or Latino8.5% · 26
- Two or more races7.8% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 6
Popularity
Melchizedek: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melchizedek from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 154 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Melchizedek remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melchizedek 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 Melchizedek during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Melchizedek
The name Melchizedek has its origins in the ancient Hebrew language, tracing back to the biblical era. It is derived from the combination of two Hebrew words: "melek" meaning "king" and "tzedeq" meaning "righteousness" or "justice." The resulting name, Melchizedek, can be interpreted as "King of Righteousness."
In the Old Testament, Melchizedek is mentioned as the king of Salem (often associated with Jerusalem) and a priest of the Most High God. He is depicted as a mysterious figure who blessed Abraham and received tithes from him, as described in the book of Genesis. Melchizedek's significance lies in his role as a precursor to the priesthood of Christ, as referenced in the book of Hebrews.
One of the earliest recorded individuals bearing this name is Melchizedek, the king of Salem, who is mentioned in the book of Genesis and other ancient Jewish texts. His encounter with Abraham is a pivotal event in the biblical narrative.
Throughout history, the name Melchizedek has been borne by several notable individuals, though its usage has been relatively rare. One such figure is Melchizedek Muñoz de Cuéllar (1505-1587), a Spanish theologian and philosopher who served as the Archbishop of Seville.
Another prominent figure is Melchizedek Thévenot (1620-1692), a French traveler and writer who documented his travels to various parts of the Middle East and Asia. His work, "Relations de Divers Voyages Curieux," provided valuable insights into the cultures and customs of the regions he visited.
In the realm of literature, Melchizedek is a character in John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost," where he is portrayed as a divine figure who blesses the righteous and expounds on the nature of God's justice.
Melchizedek Browning (1798-1879) was an American Baptist minister and educator who served as the president of Georgetown College (now Georgetown University) and was instrumental in its development during the mid-19th century.
Melchizedek Schmidt (1865-1952) was a Russian-born American architect known for his contributions to the Prairie School style of architecture, particularly in the Chicago area. He designed several notable buildings, including the First Unitarian Church of Evanston.
People
Melchizedek + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melchizedek as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Melchizedek: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melchizedek?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 414 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melchizedek 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 827,909 US residents.
Is Melchizedek a common name?
We classify Melchizedek as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 419 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melchizedek most popular?
The single biggest year for Melchizedek was 2019, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melchizedek is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melchizedek in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 307 people with the name Melchizedek, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,019 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Melchizedek in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Melchizedek?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melchizedek appears almost entirely male. Of the 302 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Melchizedek?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melchizedek is Black at 54.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (16.3%) and White (11.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Melchizedek most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Melchizedek in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.4% (167 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Melchizedek in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melchizedek a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melchizedek 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.
Is Melchizedek still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melchizedek in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Melchizedek can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people have Melchizedek as a first name?
You can see how many Americans are named Melchizedek on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.