Mikael
Masculine · “Who is like God?”
Mikael is given to both — 5,939 boys and 300 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Mikael is the Nordic spelling of one of the oldest names in continuous use anywhere — the Hebrew Mikha'el, carried by the archangel named in the Book of Daniel. The same spelling belongs to Ethiopian and Eritrean tradition, where Mikael has been a church and family name for centuries. Said aloud it opens out into three unhurried syllables, ending on that soft -el that has anchored the name in every language it has entered.
How old is the name Mikael?
Mikael first appears in US birth records in 1944 — 81 years ago. The typical Mikael alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 5,800 people named Mikael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mikael most popular?
Mikael peaked in 2016, reaching #958 nationally. Today it ranks #1169, 211 places below that high. See the whole 2016 chart.
Mikael appears on this list:
Works in Scandinavian families too:
Where it comes from
From Mikha'el to Mikael
The story of Mikael
The name begins as Hebrew Mikha'el, borne in scripture by the archangel of the Book of Daniel. Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible wrote it Michaēl, Latin kept it as Michael, and from there it spread through Christian Europe in dozens of shapes. Mikael is the form that settled in Sweden, Finland, Norway and Estonia, where the k stands where English writes ch; the identical spelling is standard in Ethiopia and Eritrea, reaching Ge'ez and Amharic through the eastern church rather than through Scandinavia. Two long journeys, one destination on the page.
Meaning
Who is like God?
The Hebrew Mikha'el is a rhetorical question rather than a statement — the expected answer being no one.
How the name formed
- Mikha'el
- Michaēl
- Michael
- Mikael
Related forms: Michael · Miguel · Michel · Mikhail · Mikkel · Mikko
Pronouncing Mikael
MEE-kah-el
The Scandinavian pronunciation puts the weight on the first syllable; Ethiopian and Eritrean families more often say mee-kah-EL, and in American English mih-KAY-el is also heard. All three are correct for their tradition, so it helps to pick the one you want and say it consistently.
Nicknames for Mikael
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
- 1944
- Most boys named
- 2023223 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #958reached in 2016
- Change vs 2023
- −21.1%176 in 2025, from 223
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.
Mikael in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Michael in English — same name
- Miguel in Spanish — same name
- Michel in French — same name
- Mikhail in Russian — transliteration
- Mikkel in Danish — related form
- Mikko in Finnish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Mikaels among us
people named Mikael are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 9,705 born in 2025 was named Mikael
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Mikael
- #1169
- Mikael on the 2025 chart
- #666
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Mikael went to 176 boys in 2025, but Mikhael, Mikaeel and Mickael and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 272, which makes it the 666th most-given boys’ name of the year — 503 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 6,280 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 9,705 for Mikael 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 Demonte test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mikael's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Demonte climbed just as high around 1994, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Demonte's path sketches the road Mikael is walking now.
Mikael 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
Where Mikael is headed
Mikael 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.
Mikael beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mikael in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An unbroken record from Hebrew scripture through Greek, Latin and the Nordic languages — few names are documented so continuously.
- Instantly recognizable as Michael, so nobody has to be told what the name is, only how it is spelled.
- Native in Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian, Estonian, Amharic and Tigrinya, which makes it easy to carry across borders.
- Comes with short forms already in real use — Mika, Micke, Mike — rather than ones a family has to invent.
- Familiar without being everywhere: known to everyone, shared with almost no one in a given classroom.
- It will be corrected to Michael, often automatically, on forms and in email. Most bearers develop a quick spoken formula for it early on.
- Three pronunciations circulate — MEE-kah-el, mee-kah-EL, mih-KAY-el — so expect to state your preference more than once.
- The name sits close to Michaela, Mikaela and Mikayla in sound, which can cause a moment's confusion over the phone or on a class list.
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What they receive
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Mikael
Masculine · #1169 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mikaels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 5,800 people named Mikael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Mikael?
- Mikael is the most-used spelling in US records — 176 of the 272 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Mikhael, Mikaeel, Mickael, Micael and Mykael.
- How popular is the name Mikael in 2025?
- Mikael ranks #1169 among US boy names in 2025, with 176 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mikael?
- About 1 in every 9,705 US boys born in 2025 was named Mikael — 176 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mikael with classmates?
- Mikael will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mikael
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Mekhi#1169 · Jean#1169 · Benaiah#1169 · Korbin#1169 · Eythan#1169 · Amado#1169 · Lux#1166 · Denzel#1166
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mikael? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mikael and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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