Mitchell
Feminine · “Who is like God”
Mitchell is given to boys far more often — 164,063 boys against 1,128 girls since 1880. See Mitchell as a boy name
Mitchell may be Michael and may be a word meaning big, and the record does not choose. Both were live sources for the surname in medieval England: the French form of the saint's name, and the ordinary English adjective that survives in the phrase about many a mickle making a muckle.
How old is the name Mitchell?
Mitchell first appears in US birth records in 1913 — 112 years ago. The typical Mitchell alive today was born around 1983, making them about 42 years old. About 1,000 people named Mitchell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mitchell most popular?
Mitchell peaked in 1986, reaching #2724 nationally. See the whole 1986 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Michel to Mitchell
The story of Mitchell
The English word for a large amount and the word for a small one are the same word, which is why the proverb is so often quoted wrong. Micel meant big and became the modern much; the northern form mickle kept the older sense; and muckle is a Scots variant of the same word meaning exactly the same thing. The proverb that many a mickle makes a muckle therefore says that many a lot makes a lot, which is nonsense, and it is a corruption of an older version using a word for a little. Nobody minds, and the wrong version has been in print for two hundred years.
Meaningscholars disagree
Who is like God, or big
Two unrelated sources with equal claim. One is the Norman French form of Michael, a Hebrew question expecting the answer nobody; the other is Old English micel, large or great, used as a byname for a big man. Both produced the surname in different families and the spelling cannot distinguish them.
How the name formed
- Michel
- Mitchell
Pronouncing Mitchell
MITCH-ul
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The second is reduced to nothing, which is why the doubled l is doing no audible work; it marks the name as a surname rather than the given name Mitchel.
Nicknames for Mitchell
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
- 1913
- Most girls named
- 198838 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2724reached in 1986
- Change vs 2015
- +20.0%6 in 2018, from 5
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.
Mitchells among us
people named Mitchell are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Mitchell sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Mitch is a short, plain, adult everyday form available from the start.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- It has been in continuous American use since before the records begin.
- The record carries it for girls in small numbers, so it is not quite an absolute signal.
- Two possible origins means two possible meanings and no way to choose.
- It reads as a surname, which in America is now a recommendation rather than a problem.
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What they receive
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Mitchell
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Mitchells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Mitchell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mitchell in 2025?
- Mitchell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Mitchell with classmates?
- Mitchell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mitchell? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mitchell and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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