Michalyn
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew name Michael, meaning "who is like God?"
Name Census estimates that about 17 living Americans carry the first name Michalyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Michalyn today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Michalyn births was 1997 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Michalyn. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Michalyn. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
17
~ 1 in 20,162,020 Americans
Peak year
1997
8 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
1997 SSA rank
#10,464
Tracked since 1964
Census
Michalyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 139 people with the first name Michalyn, which placed it at #47,200 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
#47,200
National first-name rank
People counted
139
139 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Michalyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Michalyn is White at 77.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.1%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Michalyn 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 Michalyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.7% · 108
- Black or African American15.1% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 4
- Two or more races2.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 2
Popularity
Michalyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Michalyn from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 13 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Michalyn 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 Michalyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Michalyn
The name Michalyn is an anglicized form of the Hebrew name Michael, which traces its roots back to the ancient Semitic languages of the Middle East. Michael derives from the Hebrew words "mi" meaning "who" and "el" meaning "God", forming the rhetorical question "Who is like God?". This name was borne by one of the archangels in the Judeo-Christian tradition.
Michalyn likely emerged as a variant spelling in the English-speaking world during the Middle Ages, when names were often adapted and anglicized from their original forms. The earliest recorded instances of the name Michalyn can be found in medieval English parish records and census rolls from the 13th to 15th centuries.
One of the earliest notable bearers of the name Michalyn was Michalyn de Eston, a 14th-century English landowner and knight who served under King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War. His name appears in the historical records of the time, including the Rolls of Parliament and the Chronicles of Froissart.
In the 16th century, Michalyn Bingham was a prominent English merchant and member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers in London. He was involved in the lucrative wool trade and left a substantial estate upon his death in 1587.
During the English Civil War in the 17th century, Michalyn Wharton was a Parliamentarian officer who fought for the Roundhead forces against King Charles I. He was present at the Battle of Naseby in 1645 and later served as a member of the Rump Parliament.
In the 18th century, Michalyn Fergusson was a Scottish poet and playwright who authored several popular works, including the tragedy "The Prince of Parma" and the comedy "The Sorcerer". He was born in Edinburgh in 1720 and died in London in 1786.
Michalyn Farquhar was a British Royal Navy captain who distinguished himself during the Napoleonic Wars in the early 19th century. He commanded the HMS Bellerophon and was present at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, where he played a crucial role in the British victory.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Michalyn, showcasing its enduring presence across various periods and cultures, despite its relative rarity compared to the more common spelling of Michael.
People
Michalyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Michalyn 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
Michalyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Michalyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Michalyn 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 20,162,020 US residents.
Is Michalyn a common name?
We classify Michalyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 37.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Michalyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Michalyn was 1997, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Michalyn is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Michalyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 139 people with the name Michalyn, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,200 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 Michalyn 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 Michalyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Michalyn leans strongly female. 139 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Michalyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Michalyn is White at 77.7%. The next largest groups are Black (15.1%) and Hispanic (2.9%). 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 Michalyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Michalyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.7% (108 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 Michalyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Michalyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Michalyn 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 Michalyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Michalyn 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 Michalyn 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 people are called Michalyn?
Want to know how many people have the name Michalyn? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.