Zeke
- Pronunciation
- [Zeke]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Abbreviation Of Ezekiel.
- Origin
- English
About the Name Zeke
Zeke is an English short form of Ezekiel, the Hebrew name meaning "God strengthens" — borne by one of the major biblical prophets. Lifted from that weighty, ancient original, Zeke takes on a friendly, energetic life of its own: punchy, casual, and brimming with personality, it keeps a thread of deep scriptural heritage while sounding thoroughly playful and modern. It is part of the broader trend of short, spirited nicknames being embraced as full given names.
The name's appeal lies in that contrast between its serious roots and its breezy, approachable sound — a single brisk syllable with a likable, all-American warmth. It works equally well as a standalone given name or as an affectionate nickname for the longer Ezekiel, giving it a versatile, easygoing charm that suits both formal and everyday settings.
Zeke first entered the US Social Security top-1000 for boys in 2011, reached its best rank of #610 in 2022, and has remained in the rankings since, appearing at #732 in 2024 after standing at #642 in 2023. Across that run it has been given to roughly 5,098 boys. Its steady rise marks Zeke as a name riding the current wave of nickname-style names — short, spirited, and full of character, with genuine biblical depth beneath its playful sound and a likable energy that fits comfortably in any generation.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Zeke
US Popularity History (2011–2025)
Annual US births named Zeke by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2022 with 459 boys named Zeke (boy rank #610 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #803 for boys (311 US births). That's 193 places below its 2022 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
Paste the snippet below on any HTML page. Includes a credit link back to 9BabyNames — please keep it intact.
Where in the US Is Zeke Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Zeke the strongest states are South Dakota, Hawaii, Idaho.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South Dakota | #236 | 19 |
| 2 | Hawaii | #264 | 29 |
| 3 | Idaho | #321 | 24 |
| 4 | Utah | #328 | 143 |
| 5 | West Virginia | #340 | 24 |
| 6 | Iowa | #455 | 52 |
| 7 | Nevada | #468 | 33 |
| 8 | Kansas | #475 | 39 |
| 9 | Nebraska | #481 | 16 |
| 10 | Indiana | #511 | 116 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New York | #1,012 | 41 |
| 2 | Louisiana | #839 | 29 |
| 3 | Georgia | #824 | 89 |
| 4 | North Carolina | #781 | 83 |
| 5 | Texas | #759 | 317 |
| 6 | Virginia | #758 | 74 |
| 7 | Florida | #746 | 162 |
| 8 | Alabama | #735 | 25 |
| 9 | California | #716 | 354 |
| 10 | Washington | #700 | 78 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Zeke in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Looking for names like Zeke?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Zeke to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Zeke against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).