Boy · Hebrew
Michael
Say it: MY-kul
Meaning
Hebrew Mikha'el, 'who is like God?', a rhetorical question.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Spread with the cult of the archangel, popular in the Byzantine world and then the West; the top US boys' name for most years from 1954 to 1998.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1960s
In the United States
- 4,405,274 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1969, about 1 in 21 boys
- 9,740 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Biblical WorldAbout 1200 BC to AD 100
- The Early Middle Ages400 to 800
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- The Colonial Americas1500 to 1800
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
HebrewEarly ChristianEnglishAmericanFrenchSpanishItalianPortugueseGermanPolishRussianIrishGreekHungarian
The family of the name
Other spellings: Mikael, Michell, Micheal
| French | Michel |
|---|---|
| Spanish | Miguel |
| Italian | Michele |
| Portuguese | Miguel |
| German | Michael |
| Polish | Michał |
| Russian | Mikhail |
| Irish | Mícheál |
Famous bearers
- Michael, archangel in Daniel and Revelation
- Michelangelo, Italian artist
- Michael Faraday, English scientist
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Hebrew Bible and the New Testament
- Calendars of saints and name days
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- English poll taxes and lay subsidy rolls (13th and 14th centuries)
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.