Missael
Masculine · “Who is what God is?”
Missael is the Spanish form of Mishael, one of the three young men thrown into the furnace in Daniel — though the Bible mostly calls him by the Babylonian name he was given instead: Meshach.
How old is the name Missael?
Missael first appears in US birth records in 1986 — 39 years ago. The typical Missael alive today was born around 2006, making them about 19 years old. About 500 people named Missael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Missael most popular?
Missael peaked in 1996, reaching #2254 nationally. Today it ranks #5608, 3,354 places below that high. See the whole 1996 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Mîšāʾēl to Missael
The story of Missael
Daniel 1 names four Judean youths taken to Babylon — Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah — and records the Babylonian names imposed on them: Belteshazzar, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. Mishael is Meshach, one of the three who refuse to bow to the image and walk unharmed in the furnace. The Hebrew names are given at the start and then largely dropped, which is part of the story's point. Spanish-speaking Catholic and evangelical naming uses Misael and Missael steadily, and American records show it with Mexican-American families, peaking in 1996.
Meaning
Who is what God is?
From Hebrew Mîšāʾēl, generally read as a question — mi, who, sha, what, and ʾēl, God — giving who is what God is. The reading is standard and the construction is the same rhetorical question as Michael, who is like God. Missael is the Spanish spelling with a doubled s; the Greek Misael is used in the Septuagint.
How the name formed
- Mîšāʾēl
- Misael
- Missael
Related forms: Misael · מִישָׁאֵל · Μισαήλ · Misael
Pronouncing Missael
mee-sah-EL
Three syllables, stress on the last, in Spanish. English speakers say MISS-ay-el, moving the weight to the front.
Nicknames for Missael
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
- 1986
- Most boys named
- 199636 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2254reached in 1996
- Change vs 2024
- +14.3%16 in 2025, from 14
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.
Missael in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Misael in Spanish — spelling variant
- מִישָׁאֵל in Hebrew — related form
- Μισαήλ in Greek — transliteration
- Misael in Portuguese — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Missaels among us
people named Missael are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 106,755 born in 2025 was named Missael
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Hodges test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Missael's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Hodges climbed just as high around 1952, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Hodges's path sketches the road Missael is walking now.
Missael 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
Missael beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Missael in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is settled and unusually striking — a question rather than a statement.
- It is genuinely biblical with a memorable story.
- The -el ending places it with Gabriel, Rafael and Daniel.
- Misael is the commoner spelling and will be written for it.
- The character is better known by his Babylonian name, Meshach.
- Spanish and English put the stress in different places.
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What they receive
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Missael
Masculine · #5608 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Missaels are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Missael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Missael in 2025?
- Missael ranks #5608 among US boy names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Missael?
- About 1 in every 106,755 US boys born in 2025 was named Missael — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Missael with classmates?
- Missael will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Missael
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rolland#5608 · Llewellyn#5608 · Arlie#5608 · Gerrit#5608 · Vinson#5608 · Georgie#5608 · Wally#5608 · Webb#5608
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Missael? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Missael 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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