Michael
Hebrew Mikha'el, a question meaning who is like God? In scripture it names the archangel who leads the heavenly armies against evil.
Michael in 2025
Michael was given to 8,107 babies in the United States in 2025, making it the 31st most popular name of the year. That is roughly one in every 409 babies born.
The history of Michael
Michael has been the single most popular name in the country 44 times, and reached its highest point in 1957, when 93,036 babies were given the name.
Across the 146 years of records since 1880, 4,448,633 babies have been named Michael. Half of them were born before 1970, which places the name's centre of gravity with Generation X.
Michael by decade
| Decade | Babies named Michael | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 3,558 | 116 |
| 1890s | 3,933 | 154 |
| 1900s | 5,232 | 148 |
| 1910s | 31,008 | 94 |
| 1920s | 38,196 | 112 |
| 1930s | 56,385 | 32 |
| 1940s | 338,115 | 7 |
| 1950s | 839,784 | 1 |
| 1960s | 836,771 | 1 |
| 1970s | 712,402 | 1 |
| 1980s | 669,009 | 1 |
| 1990s | 464,400 | 1 |
| 2000s | 251,539 | 2 |
| 2010s | 145,551 | 6 |
| 2020s | 52,750 | 21 |
Where Michael is heading
Michael has fallen 44% over the past decade, from 14,540 babies in 2015 to 8,107 in 2025.
Names like Michael
Names that rose and fell at the same time as Michael.