Mechelle
A feminine variant of the French name Michelle, derived from the Hebrew name Michael meaning "who is like God?".
Name Census estimates that about 3,849 living Americans carry the first name Mechelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mechelle today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mechelle births was 1968 (287 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mechelle. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Mechelle with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.8K
~ 1 in 89,050 Americans
Peak year
1968
287 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2021 SSA rank
#16,846
Tracked since 1947
Census
Mechelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,005 people with the first name Mechelle, which placed it at #4,589 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#4,589
National first-name rank
People counted
4.0K
4,005 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mechelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mechelle is White at 55.5%. The next largest groups are Black (30.0%) and Hispanic (6.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Mechelle described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Mechelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.5% · 2,222
- Black or African American30.0% · 1,203
- Hispanic or Latino6.7% · 267
- Two or more races4.6% · 185
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 91
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 37
Popularity
Mechelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mechelle from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 1,619 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mechelle by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mechelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mechelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 33 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Mechelle, while Oregon, Minnesota, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 69 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mechelle
The name Mechelle is derived from the French form of the name Michelle, which in turn originates from the Hebrew name Michael, meaning "who is like God". This name has its roots in ancient Judeo-Christian traditions and can be traced back to the Old Testament and the Archangel Michael.
The earliest recorded use of the name Mechelle dates back to the Middle Ages, where it was a popular name among French nobility and aristocracy. It gained popularity across Europe during this time period, particularly in France, England, and parts of Italy.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Mechelle was Mechelle de Valois, a French noblewoman who lived in the 14th century. She was a prominent figure at the court of King Charles VI of France and played a significant role in the political affairs of the time.
In the 16th century, Mechelle de Montmorency was a French noblewoman and a prominent patron of the arts. She was known for her support of artists and writers during the Renaissance period.
During the 17th century, Mechelle de Laporte was a French nun and founder of the Order of the Daughters of Charity. She dedicated her life to serving the poor and established several charitable institutions.
In the 18th century, Mechelle de Sévigné was a French aristocrat and renowned letter writer. Her correspondence, which covered a wide range of topics including politics, society, and family life, is considered a masterpiece of French literature.
Another notable figure with the name Mechelle was Mechelle de Beauvoir, a French philosopher and writer who lived in the 20th century. She was a key figure in the existentialist movement and an influential feminist thinker, known for her works such as "The Second Sex" and her lifelong partnership with philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.
People
Mechelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mechelle as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mechelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mechelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,849 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mechelle going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 89,050 US residents.
Is Mechelle a common name?
We classify Mechelle as "Rare". It ranks above 95.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,386 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mechelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Mechelle was 1968, when 287 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mechelle is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mechelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,005 people with the name Mechelle, or 1.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,589 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Mechelle in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Mechelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mechelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,003 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Mechelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mechelle is White at 55.5%. The next largest groups are Black (30.0%) and Hispanic (6.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Mechelle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mechelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.5% (2,222 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mechelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mechelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mechelle in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Mechelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mechelle in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mechelle can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Mechelle?
You can see how many people share the name Mechelle on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.