Given name & surname
Mordechai
Mordechai is a masculine given name. It is used in German.
Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1950. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Mordechai through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 6,821
- 6,821 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2018
- 315 babies
- 2025
- 238
- #967 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −6%
- Steady
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 238 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 967 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 6.0% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 315 in 2018. In 2025, New York had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (144). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 4,847 as a first name in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Mordechai’s family of names
Mordechai has a related form in Mordecai. In Portuguese usage, Mordechai has a conventional equivalent in the Polish form MORDECHAJ. In Greek usage, Mordechai as a surname is a transliteration of Μορδεχάι.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Mordechai has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
3 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 1
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Mordechai
- Mordechai VanunuIsraeli activistborn 1954
- Mordechai SpieglerIsraeli footballer and managerborn 1944
- Mordechai GurIsraeli politician (1930-1995)
- Mordechai EliyahuChief Rabbi of Israel (1983–1993)1929–2010
- Mordechai GebirtigYiddish writer (1877–1942)
- Mordechai HodIsraeli military officer1926–2003
- Mordechai MaklefIsraeli military officer (1920–1978)
- Mordechai Ben DavidAmerican-Israeli musicianborn 1951
- Mordechai BentovIsraeli politician (1900–1985)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Mordechai, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Oseias
Oseias is a masculine given name from Hebrew. It is used in Portuguese.
>99% boys
Adonai
“my foundation” · “my Lord”
88% boys · 12% girls
Ozias
“power of Yah” · “Yah is strong”
>99% boys
Matthias
“gift of God” · “a gift from God”
>99% boys
Gideon
“one who cuts down” · “a mighty warrior; one who fells trees”
>99% boys
Maaz
“anger”
>99% boys
Solomon
“a peaceful man”
>99% boys
Abraham
“father of a multitude (of nations)” · “father of a multitude; father of nations”
>99% boys