The baby name Ezekiel, which has been on the rise since the late 1980s, saw higher-than-expected usage in 2017 specifically:
| Boys named Ezekiel (USA) | Boys named Ezekiel (Texas) | |
| 2019 | 4,932 [rank: 71st] | 697 (14.1%) |
| 2018 | 4,363 [rank: 87th] | 594 (13.6%) |
| 2017 | 4,773 [rank: 82nd] | 754 (15.8%) |
| 2016 | 3,401 [rank: 121st] | 444 (13.1%) |
| 2015 | 2,811 [rank: 146th] | 287 (10.2%) |
What caused the uptick?
My guess is football player Ezekiel “Zeke” Elliott, who was chosen fourth overall by the Dallas Cowboys in the 2016 NFL draft.
During his rookie season (2016-17), the running back was the top rusher in the league with 1,631 yards. (Before this, the only Cowboy to rush for more than 1,000 yards as a rookie was Tony Dorsett in the late 1970s.) He also scored 15 touchdowns.
In January of 2017, Elliott was selected to participate in his first Pro Bowl alongside teammate (and fellow rookie) Dak Prescott.
Ezekiel Elijah Elliott was born in Illinois in 1995. How did he come to have his name? Here’s how his father, Stacy Elliott, told the story:
[Ezekiel’s mother Dawn] had a vision of the Mother Plane, and when she described what she saw I went to the Book of Ezekiel and what she described fit what the book said. So she named him Ezekiel after that great prophet and Elijah after Elijah Muhammad.
What are your thoughts on the name Ezekiel?
Sources:
- Ezekiel Elliott – Wikipedia
- Muhammad, Jihad Hassan. “Muslim father helps son rush to stardom at Ohio State.” Final Call 21 Jan. 2015.
- SSA
Image: Adapted from Ezekiel Elliott 2016 by Keith Allison under CC BY-SA 2.0.
I don’t like the harsh sounds in Ezekiel/Zeke. Also, Ezel means donkey in Dutch (used a slur for someone with a lower IQ) and “zeke” (ziek) means sick, unwell.
I feel the same about Zachary (Zack). Zak means (ball) sack, and is used as a slur for someone being an *ss.
But then the Dutch aren’t really into obvious Christian names in the first place. Eli/Elijah/Elias, Ethan, Joshua, Isaac, Caleb/Kaleb, Isaiah, Aaron, Josiah/Jozias, Nathaniel, Jesus, Emmanuel, Jude/Judas, Malachi, Marcus, Jeremy/Jeremiah – all pretty much unheard of over here.
It’s only the truly international Christian names that make it into our top 100; names that are easy to pronounce and have more ties with pop culture than the church, eg Noah, Levi, Lucas/Luuk/Luca, Benjamin, Daniel/Daniël, David, Samuel, (Gabriel/Gabriël).
There are also quite a few names that are still super popular in the US, but have fallen out of fashion over here: Jacob, Michael, Matthew/Matthijs, Joseph/Jozef, Anthony/Antonius, Andrew/Andreas, John/Johannes, Christopher/Christoffel, Christian/Christiaan, Theodore/Theodorus etc.
Emma, I always appreciate your insights regarding Dutch names (and naming trends) — thank you!