Mikell
Masculine · “who is like God”
Mikell is given to both — 1,533 boys and 534 girls since 1880. See Mikell as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Mikell is Michael written the way it sounds, with a k and a doubled l, given mostly to boys and to a real minority of girls. It is two syllables, familiar in sound and new on the page.
How old is the name Mikell?
Mikell first appears in US birth records in 1941 — 84 years ago. The typical Mikell alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 1,400 people named Mikell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mikell most popular?
Mikell peaked in 1956, reaching #1821 nationally. Today it ranks #8243, 6,422 places below that high. See the whole 1956 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Mikha'el to Mikell
The story of Mikell
Michael's spelling has never matched its sound in English, and families have written it by ear for generations: Mikel, Mikal, Mikell. This spelling doubles the l, as Darnell and Terrell do, which may be why some girls were given it too. No record explains who first chose it.
Meaning
who is like God, through Michael
Michael is Hebrew Mikha'el, who is like God. Mikell is a spelling of it.
How the name formed
- Mikha'el
- Michael
- Mikell
Related forms: Michael · Mikel
Pronouncing Mikell
MY-kul
Most families say it like Michael. Some stress the second syllable, mih-KEL.
Nicknames for Mikell
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
- 1941
- Most boys named
- 200741 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1821reached in 1956
- Change vs 2023
- −50.0%9 in 2025, from 18
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.
Mikell in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Michael in English — spelling variant
- Mikel in Basque — same name
Mikells among us
people named Mikell are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 189,786 born in 2025 was named Mikell
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Mikell
- #8243
- Mikell on the 2025 chart
- #733
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Mikell went to 9 boys in 2025, but Mikel, Mykel and Mikkel and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 6 spellings went to 196, which makes it the 733rd most-given boys’ name of the year — 7,510 places above the chart.
About 1 boy in 8,715 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 189,786 for Mikell 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 Morrell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mikell's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Morrell climbed just as high around 1941, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Morrell's path sketches the road Mikell is walking now.
Mikell 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
Mikell beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mikell in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It sounds like a classic name.
- Mike is a ready short form.
- People will write Michael, and some will say mih-KEL.
- Most children given it are boys; a girl named Mikell may be taken for a boy on paper.
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What they receive
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Mikell
Masculine · #8243 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Mikells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,400 people named Mikell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Mikell?
- Mikell is one of 6 recorded spellings. Mikel is the more common one — 81 births in 2025 against 9 for Mikell.
- How popular is the name Mikell in 2025?
- Mikell ranks #8243 among US boy names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mikell?
- About 1 in every 189,786 US boys born in 2025 was named Mikell — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mikell with classmates?
- Mikell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mikell
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Danial#8243 · Ogden#8243 · Aaren#8243 · Trinity#8243 · Kourtney#8243 · Maury#8243 · Lindon#8243 · Elbert#8243
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mikell? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mikell and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
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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