Michael
Masculine · “Who is like God? (Hebrew)”
Michael is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 4,426,753 boys against 21,880 girls since 1880. See Michael as a girl name
Michael comes from a question asked in Hebrew scripture — "who is like God?" — and it has been asked, as a name, for well over two thousand years. It traveled through Greek and Latin into nearly every language of Europe, picking up a new shape in each: Miguel, Michel, Mikhail, Mícheál. In English it settles into two easy syllables that almost no one has to be taught.
How old is the name Michael?
Michael was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Michael alive today was born around 1972, making them about 53 years old. About 3,644,000 people named Michael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Michael most popular?
Michael peaked in 1954, reaching #1 nationally. Today it ranks #21, 20 places below that high. See the whole 1954 chart.
Where it comes from
From Mikha'el to Michael
The story of Michael
The name belongs first to Hebrew, where Mikha'el appears as the archangel named in the Book of Daniel and again in Revelation, cast as a guardian and a warrior. Greek-speaking scribes wrote it Michaēl, Latin kept that spelling almost unchanged, and from Latin it spread across Christian Europe, taking a local form in each language. English adopted it in the medieval period, when churches dedicated to the archangel and the autumn feast of Michaelmas kept it in ordinary speech. Immigration to the United States, particularly from Ireland, Italy, Poland and the Spanish-speaking world, brought half a dozen versions of the same name to the same country, where most of them converged on the English spelling.
Meaning
Who is like God? (Hebrew)
The Hebrew Mikha'el is a rhetorical question rather than a statement — the expected answer being no one.
Cultural footprint
Michael Jackson (b. 1958) — The King of Pop
Michael Jordan (b. 1963) — Basketball's greatest of all time
Michael Phelps (b. 1985) — Most decorated Olympian ever — 28 medals
Michael Faraday (b. 1791) — Self-taught scientist who unlocked electricity
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- Mikha'el
- Michaēl
- Michael
- Michel
- Miguel
Related forms: Miguel · Michel · Michele · Mikhail · Michał · Mícheál
Pronouncing Michael
MY-kal
Two syllables in English, with a light second one. The German and Dutch pronunciations give it three (MEE-khah-el), and French Michel is mee-SHEL — worth knowing if the family speaks more than one language.
Nicknames for Michael
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 195792,781 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1reached in 1954
- Change vs 2022
- −9.0%8,094 in 2025, from 8,895
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Michael in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Miguel in Spanish — same name
- Michel in French — same name
- Michele in Italian — same name
- Mikhail in Russian — same name
- Michał in Polish — same name
- Mícheál in Irish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. International figures from Statistics Canada, National Records of Scotland, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Michaels among us
people named Michael are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 211 born in 2025 was named Michael
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Robert test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Michael's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Robert climbed just as high around 1924, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Robert's path sketches the road Michael is walking now.
Michael has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Michael is headed
Michael should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Michael beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Michael in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- One of the most widely recognized spellings in the Western world — rarely needs to be repeated, and almost never needs to be spelled out.
- Long-established short forms, from Mike to Mikey to Mick, so a boy has room to choose how he is addressed.
- Present in US records for as long as such records have been kept, and still given steadily today rather than only remembered.
- Has a natural equivalent in Spanish, French, Italian, Polish, Russian and Irish, which travels well in mixed-language families.
- Also charts currently in Canada, Scotland, and England & Wales.
- It is very well represented among adults, so a Michael will likely share his name with a colleague or two at some point in his working life.
- Expect Mike. Even parents set on the full name usually find the world shortens it, especially at school and on sports teams.
- The -ael ending gets transposed to Micheal surprisingly often by typists and forms — a small, lifelong correction.
- Because it has been common for generations, it reads as familiar rather than novel; that is a fair trade for a name nobody will mishear.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Michael
Masculine · #21 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Michaels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,644,000 people named Michael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Michael in 2025?
- Michael ranks #21 among US boy names in 2025, with 8,094 babies given the name.
- How common is the name Michael?
- About 1 in every 211 US boys born in 2025 was named Michael — 8,094 in all.
- Will my child share the name Michael with classmates?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Michael.
Ranked beside Michael
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ezra#20 · Daniel#22 · John#23 · Leo#19 · Samuel#18 · Ethan#24 · Hudson#17 · Julian#25
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Michael? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Michael and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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