Ezekiel - Meaning of Ezekiel

What does Ezekiel mean?

Pronounce
Ezekiel

[ 4 syll. e-ze-kiel, ez-eki-el ] The baby boy name Ezekiel is pronounced in English as ih-ZIY-Kiy-ahL or ih-ZIY-KYahL †. Ezekiel is of Hebrew origin and it is used largely in the English language. The meaning of the name is 'God strengthens'. It is a biblical name derived from el meaning 'God, powerful' ; chazaq 'strong, to strengthen'. Yechezqel (Hebrew) is an original form of Ezekiel. The name was borne in the Bible by an important 6th-century prophet who wrote the Book of Ezekiel. Through his vivid visions, he prophesied the restoration of Israel to the Jews during his exile in Babylon. As an English name, it was first adopted by the Puritans in the 17th century. It has become less popular after the 19th century, and is today used mainly by Jews.

Ezekiel has 18 variations that are used in English and foreign languages. Variations of the name used in English include Esequiel (used in Spanish as well), Esquevelle, Ezekial, Ezekyel, Ezell, Ezequiel (used in Portuguese and Spanish as well), Eziechiele, and Eziequel. The contraction Zeke (used in Hebrew as well) is another English variation.

Foreign variations include Chatzkel (Yiddish), Ezéchiel (French), Haskel (Yiddish), Hesekiel (Finnish and German), Heskel (Yiddish), Iezekiel (Greek), Jesekijel (Russian), and Yechezkel (Hebrew). Another foreign form is the variant spelling Ezechiel (German).

See also the related categories, strong (strength), god, puritans, english, powerful, prophet, biblical, exile, and hebrew.

Ezekiel is popular as a baby boy name, and it is also viewed as trendy. The name's popularity has been growing since the 1970s. Its usage peaked modestly in 2017 with 0.240% of baby boys being given the name Ezekiel. It was #82 in rank then. In 2018, it ranked at #87 with a usage of 0.224%, and it was the most popular among all boy names in its family. Ezekiel was used 6 times more than the next most popular name, Ezequiel, in 2018.

Baby names that sound like Ezekiel include Ezekial, Eagel, Eagle, Eegel, Eegle, Egill, Egyl, Eigil, Excel, Excell, Exequiel, Exsel, Exsell, Aekleah, Aeklee, Aekley, Aekli, Aeklie, Aekly, and Ialeel.

† Pronunciation for Ezekiel: IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; Z as in "zoo (Z.UW)" ; IY as in "eat (IY.T)" ; K as in "key (K.IY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; Y as in "you (Y.UW)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)"