Mikaela
Feminine · “Who is like God?”
Mikaela is the Nordic-spelled feminine of Michael, a name whose written record runs back through Greek scripture to Hebrew. The k gives it a clean line on the page and a light hinge in the middle — mih-KAY-la — and it comes with short forms already worn in by generations: Mika, Kayla, Micky.
How old is the name Mikaela?
Mikaela first appears in US birth records in 1966 — 59 years ago. The typical Mikaela alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 20,500 people named Mikaela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mikaela most popular?
Mikaela peaked in 1997, reaching #273 nationally. Today it ranks #1034, 761 places below that high. See the whole 1997 chart.
Mikaela appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Mikha'el to Mikaela
The story of Mikaela
The root is Hebrew Mikha'el, borne in the Hebrew Bible by the archangel Michael, who appears by name in the Book of Daniel. Greek-speaking translators and scribes carried it as Michaēl, and from there it spread through Christian Europe until Michael became one of the most persistently used men's names on the continent. Scandinavian usage settled on Mikael, spelled with a k in keeping with Swedish and Finnish orthography, and Mikaela is its feminine form — the same name Michaela and Micaela carry elsewhere, dressed in Nordic spelling. In American records it arrived in the second half of the twentieth century, rose steadily, and has since eased back from its high point without disappearing.
Meaning
Who is like God?
The Hebrew name Mikha'el is a rhetorical question rather than a statement, and that question mark is part of the meaning.
How the name formed
- Mikha'el
- Michaēl
- Michael
- Mikael
- Mikaela
Related forms: Michaela · Micaela · Mihaela · Mikaela · Michelle · Mikhaela
Pronouncing Mikaela
mih-KAY-la
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Speakers of Spanish, Italian and Swedish will often say mee-kah-EH-la, stressing the same syllable but pronouncing the vowel differently.
Nicknames for Mikaela
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
- 1966
- Most girls named
- 19961,040 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #273reached in 1997
- Change vs 2024
- −10.1%241 in 2025, from 268
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.
Mikaela in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Michaela in German, Czech — spelling variant
- Micaela in Italian, Spanish — spelling variant
- Mihaela in Romanian — same name
- Mikaela in Swedish, Finnish — same name
- Michelle in French — related form
- Mikhaela in Hebrew — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Mikaelas among us
people named Mikaela are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 6,669 born in 2025 was named Mikaela
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Mikaela
- #1034
- Mikaela on the 2025 chart
- #558
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Mikaela went to 241 girls in 2025, but Micaela, Mikaella and Micaella are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 441, which makes it the 558th most-given girls’ name of the year — 476 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 3,645 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 6,669 for Mikaela 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 Willa test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mikaela's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Willa climbed just as high around 1932, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Willa's path sketches the road Mikaela is walking now.
Mikaela 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 Mikaela is headed
Mikaela should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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.
Mikaela beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mikaela in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Carries a documented line from Hebrew scripture through Greek and into most European languages, with the meaning agreed on rather than argued over.
- Comes with several established short forms — Mika, Kayla, Micky — none of which need inventing.
- Recognizable across borders: a Mikaela is a Michaela in Prague, a Micaela in Madrid, a Mihaela in Bucharest.
- Familiar to the ear as the feminine of Michael, so no one has to be taught how to say it.
- The spelling is the real issue. Michaela, Mikayla, Makayla, McKayla and Micaela all sound close to identical, so expect to spell it aloud often and to see it written the other ways by people who mean well.
- Kayla is a strong pull. It stands on its own as a common American name, and some Mikaelas end up known by it almost entirely — worth being at peace with in advance.
- It sits with a generation now largely in their twenties, so it reads as recent rather than antique — less classic-sounding than Michaela, though a child today is unlikely to share it with a classmate.
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What they receive
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Mikaela
Feminine · #1034 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mikaelas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 20,500 people named Mikaela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Mikaela?
- Mikaela is the most-used spelling in US records — 241 of the 441 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Micaela, Mikaella and Micaella.
- How popular is the name Mikaela in 2025?
- Mikaela ranks #1034 among US girl names in 2025, with 241 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mikaela?
- About 1 in every 6,669 US girls born in 2025 was named Mikaela — 241 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mikaela with classmates?
- Mikaela will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mikaela
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elliot#1034 · Bernadette#1034 · Jovi#1034 · Montana#1033 · Eleni#1038 · Kassidy#1038 · Alexa#1029 · Naiari#1029
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mikaela? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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