Shem Tov Boy's nameOrigin: biblicalIn Israel: steady
MordechaiIn Hebrew: מרדכי · meaning, pronunciation and popularity in Israel
With vowel points: מָרְדֳּכַיRomanization: mordocháy
Mordechai (Hebrew: מרדכי) is a boy's name of biblical origin. 31,760 people born in Israel between 1949 and 2024 have it today, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS). In 2024 it was given to 520 boys and ranked #34. Its peak year was 1950, with 713 babies.
- People in Israel
- 31,760
- born 1949–2024
- Babies in 2024
- 520
- rank #34
- Peak year
- 1950
- 713 babies
- USA, 2025
- 238
- rank #965
Writing and saying Mordechai
In Hebrew letters the name is מרדכי, read right to left. Mordechai is the Latin spelling recorded by our review; families choose their own spelling in passports, so you may also meet other forms. Wiktionary romanizes it as "mordocháy" (the accent marks the stressed syllable).
Meaning and origin
- Mordecai
- a male given name, equivalent to English Mordecai
Unknown; many hypotheses have been advanced, a prominent one of which is that it ultimately derives from Akkadian 𒀭𒀫𒌓 (Marduk), compare Elamite 𒈥𒁺𒋡 (MAR-du-ka₄).
Quoted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), unchanged.
Mordechai by year: Israel and abroad
How many boys out of every 10,000 born each year have the name. For Israel it counts the people born that year who carry the name today (the CBS counts residents by year of birth, not birth registrations).
per 10,000 babies of the same sex
Mordechai in English-speaking countries
| Country / region | Year | Babies | Rank | Peak |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2025 | 238 | #965 | 2018 (315) |
| United Kingdom | 2025 | 13 | #1,965 | 2024 (22) |
| England and Wales | 2025 | 13 | #1,895 | 2024 (22) |
| Quebec | 2025 | 5 | #717 | 1993 (10) |
Counts for boys. The Hebrew page for Mordechai has every year and the other spellings.
Questions about Mordechai
How do you write Mordechai in Hebrew?
Mordechai is written מרדכי in Hebrew (with vowel points: מָרְדֳּכַי). Hebrew is read right to left. A dictionary romanization is "mordocháy".
How many people in Israel are named Mordechai?
31,760 people born between 1949 and 2024 carry the name מרדכי: 5 women and 31,755 men. The count comes from the CBS table of current first names by year of birth; years with fewer than 5 people are not published.
Is Mordechai a boy's or a girl's name?
In Israel it is almost always a boy's name: 100.0% of the people named מרדכי are men.
What does the name Mordechai mean?
English Wiktionary describes it as: "Mordecai" Etymology: Unknown; many hypotheses have been advanced, a prominent one of which is that it ultimately derives from Akkadian 𒀭𒀫𒌓 (Marduk), compare Elamite 𒈥𒁺𒋡 (MAR-du-ka₄).
Is Mordechai used outside Israel?
The name Mordechai appears in the official baby name lists of English-speaking countries. In the United States 238 boys were given it in 2025 (#965), per the Social Security Administration. In the UK 13 in 2025 (ONS, NRS and NISRA combined).
Sources
Israel: Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), current first names of people born 1949–2024 by sex, population group and year of birth, processed 2026-09-27. CBS publications.
Abroad
- United States: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA)
Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications - National Data
Years 1880–2025 · updated 2026-04-13 · licence: Public domain (U.S. Government work) · names given to fewer than 5 babies a year are not published - England and Wales: Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Baby names in England and Wales: from 1996
Years 1996–2025 · updated 2026-07 · licence: Open Government Licence v3.0 · names given to fewer than 3 babies a year are not published - Quebec: Retraite Québec
Banque de prénoms (filles, garçons)
Years 1980–2025 · updated 2026-06-18 · licence: Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) · names given to fewer than 5 babies a year are not published
Counts are copied as published. We only merged accented spellings (Zoë = Zoe) and computed ranks and rates. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – British Columbia and the Open Government Licence – Alberta.