Variant spelling of Ezekiel, from Hebrew 'Yechezqel' meaning 'God will strengthen.'
Ezekial is a variant spelling of Ezekiel, from the Hebrew "Yechezqel," which combines "chazaq" (to be strong, to strengthen) with "El" (God), producing the meaning "God will strengthen" or "God is my strength." In the Hebrew Bible, Ezekiel was a priest and prophet who was deported to Babylon with the first wave of Judean exiles around 597 BCE. His prophetic book is one of the most visually extraordinary in the entire biblical canon — filled with elaborate visions of celestial creatures, wheels within wheels, and the famous valley of dry bones that God commands to live again.
These vivid, sometimes hallucinatory passages have captivated readers, theologians, and artists for millennia. Ezekiel's vision of the divine chariot ("merkabah") became the foundation of an entire tradition of Jewish mysticism, while his imagery of resurrection and national renewal made him a touchstone for communities enduring exile and persecution. The name traveled through Puritan communities in the 17th and 18th centuries, where biblical names were worn as expressions of faith and covenant.
It appears on colonial American church rolls and gravesites throughout New England, carried by farmers, ministers, and soldiers alike. The Ezekial spelling, while less standard, has a long informal history as a phonetic variant — the name sounds identical in speech, and the alternate form gives it a slightly rougher, more handcrafted quality that many contemporary parents find appealing. Today the name rides a broader wave of interest in substantial, old-testament names that feel earned rather than fashionable, names with genuine depth behind them.