Melchor

Meaning of Melchor

Melchor is a masculine given name derived from the Hebrew compound Malkiyôr—literally “my king is light”—which was assimilated into medieval Spanish onomastics and subsequently transmitted through Christian liturgical tradition. Its foremost cultural referent is the Magus enumerated among the Three Wise Men in Gospel narratives, whose regal and erudite attributes have imbued the name with an enduring connotation of sovereignty and illumination. Within the United States, Melchor exhibits a technically marginal yet stable frequency profile: annual occurrences have fluctuated between five and eight newborns since 2016, with corresponding Social Security Administration ranks oscillating between 900 and 937, reaching eight registrations (rank 916) in 2024. This sustained but limited adoption reflects the name’s continued resonance within communities emphasizing Hispanic and ecclesiastical heritage, where it operates as both a marker of ancestral tradition and a distinctive personal identifier.