Melquan
Melquan is a name of uncertain origin, possibly a blend meaning "king's gift".
Name Census estimates that about 253 living Americans carry the first name Melquan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Melquan today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melquan births was 1992 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melquan. 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
253
~ 1 in 1,354,760 Americans
Peak year
1992
26 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2015 SSA rank
#13,381
Tracked since 1988
Census
Melquan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 180 people with the first name Melquan, which placed it at #41,022 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
#41,022
National first-name rank
People counted
180
180 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
90.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melquan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melquan is Black at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Melquan 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 Melquan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American90.0% · 162
- Hispanic or Latino7.2% · 13
- Two or more races1.7% · 3
- White1.1% · 2
Popularity
Melquan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melquan from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 176 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melquan 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 Melquan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Melquans live
Origin
Meaning and history of Melquan
The given name Melquan has its origins in ancient Canaan, a region encompassing modern-day Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and Israel. It is derived from the Semitic root "mlk," meaning "king" or "ruler," and "qn," meaning "to acquire" or "to possess." This suggests that the name Melquan might have been associated with the idea of a "possessing king" or a "ruler who acquires."
In ancient Canaanite mythology, Melqart, also known as Melquan, was the name of a prominent deity worshipped as the lord of the city of Tyre. This deity was later assimilated with the Greek god Heracles, indicating the cultural exchange and influence between these civilizations.
The earliest recorded use of the name Melquan can be traced back to the Phoenician civilization, which flourished in the coastal regions of the eastern Mediterranean from around the 16th century BCE to the 4th century BCE. Phoenician inscriptions and artifacts have been discovered bearing this name, though its exact usage and popularity during that time remain uncertain.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Melquan was a Phoenician ruler who lived in the 5th century BCE. He is mentioned in ancient Greek historical accounts as a king of Tyre, though details about his reign are scarce.
In the 3rd century BCE, a Carthaginian general named Melquan played a significant role in the Punic Wars against the Roman Republic. He is recorded as leading Carthaginian forces in several battles and campaigns, though he ultimately met his demise during the Second Punic War.
During the Byzantine era, around the 5th century CE, a Christian saint named Melquan is mentioned in various hagiographies and religious texts. He is said to have been a monk and martyr who suffered persecution for his faith, though the details of his life and martyrdom are shrouded in legend.
In the 9th century CE, a Muslim scholar and philosopher named Melquan ibn Qays al-Andalusi made significant contributions to the fields of astronomy and mathematics. He lived and worked in the Iberian Peninsula, which was then part of the Islamic Golden Age.
Another notable figure with the name Melquan was a 12th-century crusader knight who participated in the Third Crusade led by Richard the Lionheart. Historical accounts describe him as a valiant warrior who fought alongside the Christian forces against the Muslim armies in the Holy Land.
People
Melquan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melquan 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
Melquan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melquan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 253 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melquan 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 1,354,760 US residents.
Is Melquan a common name?
We classify Melquan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 259 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melquan most popular?
The single biggest year for Melquan was 1992, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melquan is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melquan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 180 people with the name Melquan, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,022 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 Melquan 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 Melquan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melquan appears almost entirely male. Of the 182 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Melquan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melquan is Black at 90.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.2%) and Two or More Races (1.7%). 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 Melquan most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Melquan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.0% (162 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 Melquan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melquan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melquan 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 Melquan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melquan 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 Melquan 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 are called Melquan?
Find out how many Americans are named Melquan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.