Michelangelo
A masculine Italian name of uncertain origin, potentially meaning "who is like God?".
Name Census estimates that about 1,288 living Americans carry the first name Michelangelo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Michelangelo today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Michelangelo births was 2015 (76 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Michelangelo. 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 Michelangelo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 266,114 Americans
Peak year
2015
76 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,535
Tracked since 1961
Census
Michelangelo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,089 people with the first name Michelangelo, which placed it at #11,675 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
#11,675
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,089 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Michelangelo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Michelangelo is White at 45.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.8%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Michelangelo 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 Michelangelo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.9% · 500
- Hispanic or Latino37.8% · 412
- Two or more races5.9% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.4% · 59
- Black or African American4.8% · 52
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Michelangelo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Michelangelo from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 486 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Michelangelo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Michelangelo 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 Michelangelo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Michelangelos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Michelangelo, while Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 76 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Michelangelo
The name Michelangelo has its origins in the Italian Renaissance period, deriving from the combination of the Italian names Michele and Angelo. Michele is derived from the Hebrew name Michael, meaning "who is like God". Angelo, on the other hand, comes from the Greek word "angelos", which means "messenger" or "angel".
This name gained widespread recognition and popularity due to the renowned artist and sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti, born in 1475 in the Republic of Florence. He is considered one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance, renowned for his masterpieces such as the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and the iconic sculpture of David.
While Michelangelo Buonarroti is undoubtedly the most famous bearer of this name, there have been other notable individuals throughout history who have carried it. One such figure is Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, an Italian painter active in the late 16th and early 17th centuries, known for his revolutionary use of chiaroscuro and his depictions of biblical scenes.
Michelangelo Antonioni, an Italian film director born in 1912, is another prominent figure associated with this name. He is celebrated for his contributions to the Italian Neorealist movement and his influential works such as "L'Avventura" and "Blow-Up".
In the realm of literature, Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, born in 1568, was a noted poet and the nephew of the renowned artist Michelangelo Buonarroti. He is remembered for his poetic works that celebrated the life and art of his famous uncle.
Lastly, Michelangelo Pistoletto, born in 1933, is an Italian artist and prominent figure in the Arte Povera movement. He is known for his innovative use of everyday materials and his exploration of the relationship between art and society.
While the name Michelangelo may have its roots in the Italian Renaissance, its enduring legacy and influence have transcended centuries, with notable individuals from various fields carrying this name and contributing to the cultural richness of the world.
People
Michelangelo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Michelangelo 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
Michelangelo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Michelangelo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,288 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Michelangelo 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 266,114 US residents.
Is Michelangelo a common name?
We classify Michelangelo as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,316 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Michelangelo most popular?
The single biggest year for Michelangelo was 2015, when 76 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Michelangelo is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Michelangelo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,089 people with the name Michelangelo, or 0.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,675 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 Michelangelo 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 Michelangelo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Michelangelo appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,087 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Michelangelo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Michelangelo is White at 45.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.8%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Michelangelo most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Michelangelo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.9% (500 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 Michelangelo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Michelangelo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Michelangelo 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 Michelangelo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Michelangelo 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 Michelangelo 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 have Michelangelo as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.