Melchizedek is a Hebrew biblical name meaning king of righteousness.
Melchizedek is one of the most ancient names in the Hebrew scriptural tradition, meaning "king of righteousness" — a compound of *melech* (king) and *tzedek* (righteousness). The name belongs to a figure who appears only briefly but profoundly in Genesis 14: a priest-king of Salem who greets Abraham with bread and wine and blesses him in the name of "God Most High." His sudden, contextless appearance has puzzled and fascinated theologians for millennia — he has no recorded parentage or death, which the author of the New Testament epistle to the Hebrews uses to cast him as a type of eternal priesthood, more ancient and universal than the Levitical line.
In the Dead Sea Scrolls, a separate document called 11QMelchizedek envisions him as a heavenly redeemer figure, showing how deeply his mythos had taken root in Second Temple Judaism. The Gnostic traditions similarly elevated him to an almost cosmic status. Salem, his city, is widely identified with Jerusalem, lending the name an enduring connection to the holy city itself.
As a given name, Melchizedek has always been extraordinarily rare — it carries too much theological gravity for casual use. It surfaces occasionally in deeply religious families, particularly in Latter-day Saint communities, where the Melchizedek Priesthood is a central institution of the faith. Bearing this name today signals a profound religious heritage and a willingness to carry a name that commands attention before a single word is spoken.