FastNamesMichael
Hebrew name meaning "From Hebrew Mikha'el, a rhetorical question meaning 'Who is like God?' (affirming the uniqueness of God).". Ranked 21st for boys in 2025.
Meaning and origin of Michael
From Hebrew Mikha'el, a rhetorical question meaning 'Who is like God?' (affirming the uniqueness of God).
Linguistically, Michael is classified under Hebrew naming traditions. It is typically pronounced "MY-kuhl".
Popularity and ranking
In official US Social Security birth records from 1880 through 2025, Michael has been given to a total of 4,426,753 boys. It has also been given to 21,880 girls.
Peak year: Michael reached its highest relative share among boys in 1969, when 85,162 babies received the name (47,625 per million births).
All-time best rank: 1st place, first achieved in 1954.
Recent standing (2025): Ranked 21st with 8,094 births. Ten years earlier in 2015, it ranked 9th (down 12 spots).
Busiest decade: More boys were named Michael in the 1950s than in any other decade (837,471 births).
| Decade | Recorded births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 3,558 |
| 1890s | 3,926 |
| 1900s | 5,220 |
| 1910s | 30,858 |
| 1920s | 37,893 |
| 1930s | 56,001 |
| 1940s | 336,568 |
| 1950s | 837,471 |
| 1960s | 833,092 |
| 1970s | 707,327 |
| 1980s | 663,807 |
| 1990s | 462,466 |
| 2000s | 250,715 |
| 2010s | 145,220 |
| 2020s | 52,631 |
Source: Social Security Administration, national baby name data, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
Where Michael is most common in the US
Accounting for when Michael was in fashion nationally, it has been most heavily concentrated in the following states (measured against the expected rate from each state's births):
- Rhode Island: 1.5 times the national rate (25,240 births since 1910).
- New Jersey: 1.4 times the national rate (170,624 births since 1910).
- Connecticut: 1.4 times the national rate (69,986 births since 1910).
- Massachusetts: 1.3 times the national rate (145,902 births since 1910).
- Delaware: 1.3 times the national rate (12,954 births since 1910).
Source: Social Security Administration, baby names by state, data through 2025. Names given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a state in a year aren't published, so totals are a little lower than actual births.
How many people have the name Michael?
About 3,603,000 living American boys and men share the name Michael. Additionally, an estimated 19,500 living American girls and women share the name.
The median age of an American named Michael is 51 years old.
Estimated from Social Security Administration records (1880–2025) and official SSA cohort mortality tables.
History of the name Michael
Michael originates in the Hebrew scriptures as a compound of mi ('who'), ka ('like'), and El ('God'). In the biblical tradition and the Book of Revelation, Saint Michael the Archangel is depicted as the field commander of the heavenly hosts, casting Satan from heaven and serving as the protector of the faithful.
The cult of Saint Michael flourished across the Mediterranean and medieval Europe, inspiring clifftop sanctuaries like Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy and St Michael's Mount in Cornwall. The name was adopted early in the Byzantine Empire and Russia (as Mikhail), and spread through medieval England after the Norman Conquest of 1066.
In twentieth-century America, Michael achieved an era of popularity unmatched by any other boy's name in modern record-keeping. It claimed the number one ranking for newborn boys in 1954, and then held it continuously for thirty-eight consecutive years from 1961 through 1998. More than 4.4 million American boys have been named Michael, producing an indelible cultural impact across sports, music, and cinema.
Notable people named Michael
- Michael Faraday (1791–1867), Scientist and physicist
- Michael Jordan (1963–), Basketball player and businessman
- Michael Jackson (1958–2009), Singer-songwriter and entertainer
- Michael J. Fox (1961–), Actor and activist
- Michael Caine (1933–), Actor
Variants and related names
Spelling variants
Diminutives and nicknames
Related names
Sources and references
- Patrick Hanks, Kate Hardcastle, Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names (2006), p. 194.
- E. G. Withycombe. The Oxford Dictionary of English Christian Names (1977), p. 218.
- Douglas Harper. Online Etymology Dictionary. Reference link.