Hezekiah

Strong and weighty, but with the modernizing short forms of Zeke and Kai, Hezekiah might once have felt reserved for the bolder of Biblical namers. Not anymore. It re-entered the US charts back in the mid-2000s, having been absent since the 1920s, but it's only been in recent years that it's been given to a substantial number of boys.

Borne by an influential Old Testament king of Judah, it derives from the Hebrew Hizqyahu meaning "Yahweh strengthens" or "God gives me strength". In more recent history, it has been borne by gospel music artist and pastor Hezekiah Walker and by rapper Hezekiah Davies, while in pop culture, Hezekiah Moscow is a character in the show A Thousand Blows.

The name featured in the US Top 500 for the first time since the 1800s in 2024, when more than 600 boys received the name, and as such, it no longer seems so out there with Jeremiah, Azarariah, Zachariah, Uriah, Ezekiel, Ozias, and Jedidiah all in the Top 1000 too.

Ezekias and Hizkiah are alternative forms, while Kiah, Zeka, Hez, Hezzie, Huck, Ziah, and Zai are all nickname possibilities.

Pronounced hez-uh-KY-uh.

As of October 2026, Hezekiah ranked #485 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #435 in 1891, Nameberry popularity #927.