Explore the Family Name Mordecai
The meaning of Mordecai
Jewish and Welsh: from a Hebrew Biblical personal name, etymologically related to that of the Babylonian god Marduk. In the Bible (Book of Esther), Mordecai was the name of a captive Jew in the palace of the Persian king Ahasuerus; he was guardian to his orphaned cousin Esther, who became Ahasuerus’s queen and saved the Jews in Persia from threatened destruction.
Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.
How common is the last name Mordecai in the United States?
Based on the Decennial U.S. Census data, the popularity of the surname Mordecai showed a slight increase from 2000 to 2010. In 2000, Mordecai was ranked as the 29,325th most popular surname in the United States with a total count of 760 people bearing this name. A decade later, the rank improved to 28,650, and the count increased by approximately 9.47% to 832 individuals carrying the Mordecai surname. Despite these changes, the proportion per 100,000 people remained steady at 0.28.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #29,325 | #28,650 | 2.3% |
| Count | 760 | 832 | 9.47% |
| Proportion per 100k | 0.28 | 0.28 | 0% |
Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Mordecai
In terms of ethnic identity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows a dynamic shift in the distribution of ethnic groups associated with the surname Mordecai between 2000 and 2010. The majority of those bearing the surname identified as White, although their representation dipped slightly from 80% to 75.48%. There was a startling rise in the Hispanic population holding this surname, increasing by over 132% from 1.71% to 3.97%. Meanwhile, the Black community also saw an uptick, climbing from 15.13% to 17.55%. Individuals identifying as being of two or more races decreased by roughly 21%, though they remain a small percentage of the total. Lastly, the counts for Asian/Pacific Islander and American Indian and Alaskan Native ethnic identities were either too small or suppressed for privacy reasons.
| 2000 | 2010 | Change | |
|---|---|---|---|
| White | 80% | 75.48% | -5.65% |
| Black | 15.13% | 17.55% | 15.99% |
| Hispanic | 1.71% | 3.97% | 132.16% |
| Two or More Races | 1.97% | 1.56% | -20.81% |
| Asian/Pacific Islander | 0% | 0% | 0% |
| American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0% | 0% | 0% |