Michaeljames
A masculine compound name combining "Michael", meaning "who is like God?", and "James", meaning "supplanter".
Name Census estimates that about 185 living Americans carry the first name Michaeljames. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Michaeljames today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Michaeljames births was 1988 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Michaeljames. 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.
People living today
185
~ 1 in 1,852,726 Americans
Peak year
1988
12 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2022 SSA rank
#11,810
Tracked since 1979
Popularity
Michaeljames: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Michaeljames from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 64 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Michaeljames 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 Michaeljames during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Michaeljames' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Michaeljames
The name Michaeljames is a combination of two distinct given names, each with its own rich history and origins.
The first part of the name, Michael, has its roots in the Hebrew name "Mikhael," which means "who is like God" or "gift from God." The name gained widespread popularity after the archangel Michael, one of the principal angels in the Bible, who is revered in Christian, Jewish, and Islamic traditions. Michael is mentioned in several books of the Bible, including the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Michael can be found in the ancient Greek work "Physiologus," a collection of stories about animals and their symbolism, written in the 2nd century AD. Over the centuries, numerous historical figures bore the name Michael, including Michael I Rangabe, a Byzantine Emperor who ruled from 811 to 813 AD, and Michael the Brave, a prince of Wallachia and ruler of Romania from 1593 to 1601.
The second part of the name, James, is derived from the Hebrew name "Ya'aqov," meaning "supplanter" or "one who follows." The name gained prominence through its association with two of Jesus Christ's apostles in the New Testament, James the Great and James the Less. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was James the Just, the brother of Jesus and the first bishop of Jerusalem, who lived in the 1st century AD.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name James, including James I of Aragon (1208-1276), a prominent king of the Crown of Aragon, and James VI of Scotland and I of England (1566-1625), who oversaw the transition from the Tudor to the Stuart dynasty and commissioned the King James Bible.
While the combination of Michael and James as a single given name is relatively modern, it reflects the rich tapestry of cultural and religious influences that have shaped the naming traditions of various societies across the globe.
People
Michaeljames + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Michaeljames 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
Michaeljames: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Michaeljames?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 185 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Michaeljames 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 1,852,726 US residents.
Is Michaeljames a common name?
We classify Michaeljames as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 190 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Michaeljames most popular?
The single biggest year for Michaeljames was 1988, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Michaeljames is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Michaeljames in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Michaeljames a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Michaeljames in the SSA data are male. 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 Michaeljames still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Michaeljames 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 Michaeljames 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Michaeljames as a first name?
Want to know how many people share the name Michaeljames? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.