Mitchell
Masculine · “Who is like God”
Mitchell is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 164,063 boys against 1,128 girls since 1880. See Mitchell as a girl 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 was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Mitchell alive today was born around 1984, making them about 41 years old. About 138,000 people named Mitchell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mitchell most popular?
Mitchell peaked in 1994, reaching #71 nationally. Today it ranks #952, 881 places below that high. See the whole 1994 chart.
Mitchell appears on these lists:
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 19954,737 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #71reached in 1994
- Change vs 2022
- −19.7%245 in 2025, from 305
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.
Mitchell in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Ohio.
Mitchells among us
people named Mitchell are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 6,972 born in 2025 was named Mitchell
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 Allen test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mitchell's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Allen climbed just as high around 1940, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Allen's path sketches the road Mitchell is walking now.
Mitchell is coming down from a big peak (#71 in 1994). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Mitchell is headed
Mitchell should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Mitchell beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mitchell in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
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.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Mitchell
Masculine · #952 in the U.S.
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 138,000 people named Mitchell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mitchell in 2025?
- Mitchell ranks #952 among US boy names in 2025, with 245 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mitchell?
- About 1 in every 6,972 US boys born in 2025 was named Mitchell — 245 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mitchell with classmates?
- Mitchell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mitchell
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Agustin#952 · Jethro#952 · Jon#951 · Josias#950 · Felipe#955 · Gian#955 · Legacy#955 · Ricky#948
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mitchell? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mitchell and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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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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