Mickey
Feminine · “Diminutive of Michael”
Mickey is given to both — 6,546 girls and 27,627 boys since 1880. See Mickey as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Mickey Mouse was very nearly Mortimer. Disney's preferred name in 1928 was Mortimer Mouse, and by the standard account his wife Lillian told him it sounded pompous and suggested Mickey instead — which is why the most reproduced cartoon character in the world has a Scots diminutive.
How old is the name Mickey?
Mickey first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Mickey alive today was born around 1948, making them about 77 years old. About 4,000 people named Mickey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mickey most popular?
Mickey peaked in 1948, reaching #544 nationally. Today it ranks #7885, 7,341 places below that high. See the whole 1948 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From mi-ka-el to Mickey
The story of Mickey
The Mortimer story is repeated in Disney's own accounts and is not independently documented, but the name Mortimer was in fact used later for a rival mouse character, which is consistent with it having been considered and set aside. What is certain is the effect: after 1928 Mickey was one of the most recognizable words in the world, which is a considerable burden for a name to carry. As a woman's given name it belongs to the mid-century American wave that gave girls Bobbie, Frankie, Jackie and Toni, and the female Mickey peaks in 1948, twenty years after the cartoon.
Meaning
Diminutive of Michael — Hebrew "who is like God?"
From Michael, mi-ka-el, a question expecting the answer nobody. Mickey is the clip Mick plus the -ey diminutive, which English took from Scots. As a woman's name it may also clip Michelle or Micaela. The -ey and -ie spellings are pronounced identically, and by American convention the -ie form reads as more clearly feminine.
How the name formed
- mi-ka-el
- Michael
- Mick
- Mickey
Related forms: Micky · Mickie
Pronouncing Mickey
MICK-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Mickey, Micky and Mickie are pronounced identically; only the spelling carries any signal.
Nicknames for Mickey
Moderate
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
- 1900
- Most girls named
- 1948231 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #544reached in 1948
- Change vs 2023
- 0.0%13 in 2025, from 13
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.
Mickey in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Micky in English — spelling variant
- Mickie in English — spelling variant
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas.
Mickeys among us
people named Mickey are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 123,636 born in 2025 was named Mickey
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Mickey
- #7885
- Mickey on the 2025 chart
- #939
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Mickey went to 13 girls in 2025, but Mikey is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 21, which makes it the 939th most-given girls’ name of the year — 6,946 places above the chart.
- Mickey13
- Mikey8
About 1 girl in 76,537 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 123,636 for Mickey itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Charline test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mickey's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Charline climbed just as high around 1928, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Charline's path sketches the road Mickey is walking now.
Mickey sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Mickey beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mickey in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It is short, phonetic and impossible to mispronounce.
- The fuller name behind it is among the best documented anywhere.
- It is warm and informal by construction.
- The cartoon association is unavoidable worldwide.
- It reads as a male name to most Americans.
- The 1940s peak dates a female bearer strongly.
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What they receive
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Mickey
Feminine · #7885 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mickeys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,000 people named Mickey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Mickey?
- Mickey is the most-used spelling in US records — 13 of the 21 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Mikey.
- How popular is the name Mickey in 2025?
- Mickey ranks #7885 among US girl names in 2025, with 13 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mickey?
- About 1 in every 123,636 US girls born in 2025 was named Mickey — 13 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mickey with classmates?
- Mickey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mickey
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Ola#7885 · Loula#7885 · Consuelo#7885 · Santa#7885 · Florentina#7885 · Marty#7885 · Jaye#7885 · Dollie#7885
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mickey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mickey and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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