Michael - Meaning of the name

[ 2 syll. mic-hae(l), mi-cha-el ] The baby boy name Michael is also used as a girl name, but it is much more common for boys. Its pronunciation is MAYKahL (English) or MIHK-aaehL (German) †. Michael is used chiefly in the Czech, English, French, 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. Various forms of the name came into use throughout Europe. Among English speakers, the name was first adopted 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 an Irishman or a Catholic Irishman, reflecting the long-standing popularity of the name. See Michael for more info. The name Michaela (Czech, Dutch, English, German, Italian, Scandinavian, and Slavic) is the female form of Michael.

The name Michael is used to a great extent; it has 136 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants used in English include Maichail, Makai, Makell, Mc Kale, Mckale, Mekhi, Michaelangelo, Michaele, Michaell, Michale, Micheal (also used in Irish and Scottish), Michelangelo, Michelet, Mickael, Mickel (also used in Scandinavian), Micki, Mickie, Micko, Mikal, Mikeal (also used in Irish), Mikel (also used in Basque), Mikhael, Mikhail (also used in Greek, Russian, and Slavic), Miko, Mikol, Miksa, Miky, Misael, Mischa (also used in German and Russian), Mitch, Mitchel, Mitchell, Mícheál (also used in Gaelic and Irish), Mychael, Mykel, Mykell, Mykelti, Myscha, and Mysha. Other English forms include the contractions Mick (also used in Irish), Midge, and Mike, the pet forms Michel (also used in Czech, French, and German), Mickey (also used in Irish, and Spanish), Micky, Mikey, Miles, 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), Maikel (Dutch), Makis (Greek), Meical (Welsh), Mica (Hebrew), Micah (Hebrew), Michaël (Dutch), Michail (Greek and Russian), Michak (Polish), Michal (Czech, Polish, and Slavic), Michalek (Polish), Michales (Greek), Michalis (Greek), Michau (French), Miche (Italian), Micheil (Gaelic and Scottish), Michele (Italian), Michiel (Dutch), Micho (Spanish), Michon (French), Mickaël (French), Miesha (Russian), Mietek (Polish), Miguel (Portuguese and Spanish), Migui (Spanish), Mihael (Slavic), Mihai (Romanian), Mihail (Greek, Romanian, and Slavic), Mihailo (Slavic and Ukrainian), Mihails (Latvian), Mihajlo (Slavic), Mihal (Hungarian), Mihalje (Scandinavian), Mihaly (Hungarian), Mihangel (Welsh), Mihas (Romanian), Mihály (Hungarian), Mihhaelo (Esperanto), Mihkel (Estonian), Miho (Slavic), Mihovil (Slavic), Mikael (Finnish and Scandinavian), Mikaere (Maori), Mikail (Russian), Mikaili (African), Mikala (Hawaiian), Mikelis (Latvian), Mikell (Basque), Mikelo (Esperanto), Mikhailo (Ukrainian), Mikhalis (Greek), Mikhalka (Russian), Mikheil (Georgian), Mikhos (Greek), Miki (Spanish), Mikk (Estonian), Mikkel (Scandinavian), Mikko (Finnish), Miks (Latvian), Mikus (Latvian), Milkins (Latvian), Milko (Czech), Min (Czech), Minka (Czech), Mique (Spanish), Miquel (Catalan), Misa (Czech), Misi (Hungarian), Miska (Hungarian), Misko (Czech), Miso (Czech), Mitxel (Basque), Mìcheal (Scottish), Mychajlo (Latvian), Myghal (Cornish), Mykhaila (Ukrainian), Mykhailo (Ukrainian), and Mykolas (Lithuanian). Specific foreign forms include the contraction Micha (German and Hebrew), the pet forms Maik (German), Mihaita (Romanian), and Mika (Finnish and Russian), and the variant spelling Micael (Portuguese).

See also the related form, Demichael.

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 2010, its usage was only 0.842% and its ranking #3, but it was nonetheless the most popular out of all boy names in its group. In 2010, Michael was more widely used than the next most popular name, Micah, by 5 times. Michael has predominantly been a baby boy name in the past century. In 1994, baby boys named Michael outnumbered girls by 221 times.

Baby names that sound like Michael include Michaele, Michaël (Dutch), Micheal (English, Irish, and Scottish), Micheil (Gaelic and Scottish), Mykal (English), Mykel (English), Macawlay (English), MacCall, MacColl, Maccoll, MacElroy, Macelroy, MacGill, Macgill, Maciel, MacKile, MacKyle, Mackile, Mackswel, and Mackswell.

† Pronunciation for Michael: M as in "me (M.IY)" ; AY as in "side (S.AY.D)" ; K as in "key (K.IY)" ; AH as in "mud (M.AH.D)" ; L as in "lay (L.EY)" ; IH as in "it (IH.T)" ; AA as in "odd (AA.D)" ; EH as in "ebb (EH.B)"