A form of Melchizedek, the biblical priest-king whose Hebrew name means "king of righteousness."
Melquisedec is the Spanish and Portuguese rendering of Melchizedek, one of the most enigmatic figures in the entire Hebrew Bible. The name appears in Genesis 14, where Melchizedek, king of Salem and priest of El Elyon ("God Most High"), blesses Abraham and receives tithes from him — a brief, mysterious appearance that theologians and scholars have debated for millennia. In Hebrew, the name Malkī-ṣeḏeq (מַלְכִּי־צֶדֶק) means "my king is righteousness" or "king of righteousness," combining melekh (king) with tzedek (righteousness, justice).
The figure of Melchizedek holds extraordinary significance across the Abrahamic traditions. In the Book of Psalms, a messianic figure is described as "a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek," a phrase the New Testament Epistle to the Hebrews applies directly to Jesus Christ. In Jewish mysticism, Melchizedek is identified with the priest-king Shem, son of Noah.
In later Christian and esoteric traditions, he appears as a cosmic priest-figure, a being of primordial righteousness untethered from ordinary genealogy. The Dead Sea Scrolls contain a text (11QMelchizedek) depicting him as a heavenly redeemer figure. As a given name, Melquisedec is most common in Latin American Catholic communities, particularly in Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico, where deeply biblical and Old Testament names have never gone out of fashion the way they have in parts of North America or Europe.
It is a name of unmistakable gravitas — long, sonorous, and carrying the full weight of ancient scripture. Those who carry it tend to go by Melqui or Sedec in daily life, but the full name remains a declaration of heritage.