Mikal
Masculine · “A form of Michael”
Mikal is given to both — 3,334 boys and 591 girls since 1880. See Mikal as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Mikal is Michael with every silent letter taken out, and it is also the form of the archangel's name in the Quran. It has been given to boys and to a real minority of girls.
How old is the name Mikal?
Mikal first appears in US birth records in 1943 — 82 years ago. The typical Mikal alive today was born around 1994, making them about 31 years old. About 3,200 people named Mikal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mikal most popular?
Mikal peaked in 1993, reaching #840 nationally. Today it ranks #3583, 2,743 places below that high. See the whole 1993 chart.
Where it comes from
From Mikha'el to Mikal
The story of Mikal
The Quran names the archangel Michael once, as Mikal, beside Jibril, Gabriel, in a verse that warns against being an enemy of God's angels. In English, Michael carries a ch said as k and an ae said as one vowel, and Mikal writes just what is heard. The spelling can arrive by either road, Arabic or English.
Meaning
A form of Michael, 'who is like God?'
Michael is a Hebrew question, 'who is like God?'; Mikal is the Arabic form of the angel's name and an English spelling by sound.
How the name formed
- Mikha'el
- Michael
- Mikal
Related forms: Mikail · Michael · Mikael
Pronouncing Mikal
MY-kul
Two syllables with the stress on the first; some say mih-KAHL.
Nicknames for Mikal
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
- 1943
- Most boys named
- 1993158 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #840reached in 1993
- Change vs 2023
- 0.0%31 in 2025, from 31
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.
Mikal in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mikail in Arabic — same name
- Michael in English — spelling variant
- Mikael in Swedish — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, Ohio, New York.
Mikals among us
people named Mikal are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 55,099 born in 2025 was named Mikal
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Mikal
- #3583
- Mikal on the 2025 chart
- #887
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Mikal went to 31 boys in 2025, but Mykal is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 41, which makes it the 887th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,696 places above the chart.
- Mikal31
- Mykal10
About 1 boy in 41,660 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 55,099 for Mikal 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 Lamonte test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mikal's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lamonte climbed just as high around 1972, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lamonte's path sketches the road Mikal is walking now.
Mikal 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 Mikal is headed
Mikal 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.
Mikal beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mikal in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Sounds like Michael, a name everyone knows.
- Spelled as it is said.
- Rooted in more than one tradition.
- Many will write Michael or Mikhail.
- The pronunciation varies.
- Most children with this spelling are boys, but a real minority are girls; either may be taken for the other.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Mikal
Masculine · #3583 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mikals are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 3,200 people named Mikal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Mikal?
- Mikal is the most-used spelling in US records — 31 of the 41 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Mykal.
- How popular is the name Mikal in 2025?
- Mikal ranks #3583 among US boy names in 2025, with 31 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mikal?
- About 1 in every 55,099 US boys born in 2025 was named Mikal — 31 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mikal with classmates?
- Mikal will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mikal
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Geoffrey#3583 · Robinson#3583 · Kimani#3583 · Emre#3583 · Yoan#3583 · Anirudh#3583 · Sutter#3583 · Heber#3583
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mikal? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mikal 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. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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