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 [ 2 syll. mic-hae(l), mi-cha-el ] The boy name Michael is also used as a girl name, but it is much more common for boys. Its pronunciation is MAYKahL KEY. Michael is used chiefly in the Czech, English, German, and Yiddish languages, and its origin is Hebrew. The name is of the meaning Who is like God?. Biblical name derived from the elements 'miy' meaning who ; 'el' meaning God, powerful. Mikhael (Hebrew) is an old form of Michael. The name was borne in the Bible by the archangel Michael, who is regarded by Roman Catholics as a saint. In the medieval period, he was often considered as the field commander of the army of God and the patron saint of soldiers. The name was thus popular with early Christian military leaders, including eight Byzantine emperors and the founder of the House of Romanov in Russia. The name was first adopted by English speakers as early as the 12th century; it saw a slight dip in popularity in the 19th century before a revival in the 20th. In Ireland, the short form Mick has traditionally been used as a byname for any Irishman, reflecting the long-standing popularity of the name. See Michael for more info. The name Michaela (Dutch, English, and German) is the female form of Michael. The name Michael is used to a great extent; it has 85 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of Michael used in English include Micah (also used in German, Welsh, and Hebrew), Michale, Micheal (also used in Scottish), Michelet, Michiel, Mickel (also used in Scandinavian), Micki, Mickie, Mikel (also used in Basque), Mitch, Mitchel, and Mitchell. Other English forms include the short forms Mick, Midge, and Mike, the pet forms Mickey (also used in Spanish), Micky, Mikey, Misha (also used in Hebrew, and Russian), and Myke, and the variant spellings Mical, Mychal, and Mykal. Foreign variants of Michael include Dumichel (French), Machas (Polish), Makis (Greek), Meical (Welsh), Mica (Hebrew), Micha (German and Hebrew), Michail (Greek and Russian), Michak (Polish), Michal (Czech and Polish), Michalek (Polish), Michau (French), Miche (Italian), Micheil (Scottish), Michel (Czech, French, and German), Michele (Italian), Micho (Spanish), Michon (French), Mickaël (French), Miesha (Russian), Mietek (Polish), Miguel (Portuguese and Spanish), Migui (Spanish), Mihai (Romanian), Mihail (Greek, Romanian, and Slavic), Mihailo (Slavic and Ukrainian), Mihal (Hungarian), Mihalje (Scandinavian), Mihaly (Hungarian), Mihangel (Welsh), Mihas (Romanian), Mihály (Hungarian), Mihkel (Estonian), Mika (Finnish and Russian), Mikael (Scandinavian), Mikail (Russian), Mikelis (Latvian), Mikhail (Greek and Russian), Mikhailo (Ukrainian), Mikhalis (Greek), Mikhalka (Russian), Mikhos (Greek), Miki (Spanish and Hungarian), Mikk (Estonian), Mikkel (Scandinavian), Mikko (Finnish), Miks (Latvian), Mikus (Latvian), Milkins (Latvian), Min (Czech), Minka (Czech), Mique (Spanish), Miquel (Catalan), Misa (Czech), Mischa (German and Russian), Misi (Hungarian), Miska (Hungarian), Misko (Czech), Miso (Czech), Mìcheal (Scottish), and Mícheál (Irish). Specific foreign forms include the pet form Maik (German), and the variant spelling Micael (Portuguese). See also the related forms, Michelangelo (Italian) and Miles (English). Michael is very popular as a baby name for boys. The name's popularity jumped from the 1920s up to the 1960s. At the peak of its usage in 1969, 4.656% of baby boys were given the name Michael. Its ranking then was #1. The baby name has since experienced a fall in popularity. In 2008, its usage was 0.944% and its ranking #2, but it was nonetheless the most popular out of all boy names in its group. In 2008, Michael was more widely used than the next most popular name, Miguel (Portuguese and Spanish), by 5 times. Michael has predominantly been a boy name in the past century. In 1994, boys named Michael outnumbered girls by 221 times. Baby names that sound like Michael include Micheal (English and Scottish), Mìcheal (Scottish), Mícheál (Irish), Mykal (English), Macawlay (English), Maxwell (English and Scottish), Meical (Welsh), Micael (Portuguese), Mical (English), Michail (Greek and Russian), Michal (Czech and Polish), Michale (English), Micheil (Scottish), Michel (Czech, French, and German), Michele (Italian), Michiel (English), Mickaël (French), Mickel (English and Scandinavian), Miguel (Portuguese and Spanish), and Mihkel (Estonian). Details of famous persons named Michael: KEY: Pronunciation for Michael: M as in "me (M.IY)" ; AY as in "hide (HH.AY.D)" ; K as in "key (K.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)"   |
