Michelena
A feminine name meaning "who is like God" in Basque.
Name Census estimates that about 15 living Americans carry the first name Michelena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Michelena today is around 44 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Michelena births was 1920 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Michelena. 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 Michelena. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
15
~ 1 in 22,850,289 Americans
Peak year
1920
12 babies that year
Average age
44
years old
1992 SSA rank
#14,720
Tracked since 1917
Census
Michelena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 138 people with the first name Michelena, which placed it at #47,373 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
#47,373
National first-name rank
People counted
138
138 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Michelena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Michelena is White at 82.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Black (4.3%). 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 Michelena 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 Michelena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.6% · 114
- Hispanic or Latino8.7% · 12
- Black or African American4.3% · 6
- Two or more races3.6% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1
Popularity
Michelena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Michelena from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 50 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Michelena 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 Michelena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Michelenas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Michelena
The given name Michelena originates from the Basque region of Spain and France. It is a combination of two Basque words: "Mikel" meaning Michael, and "ena" meaning belonging to or of. Thus, Michelena means "belonging to Michael" or "of Michael".
The name has its roots in the medieval era, around the 11th to 13th centuries. During this time, the Basque region was known for its unique language and cultural traditions that differed from the surrounding areas. The name Michelena was likely used as a patronymic, indicating one's lineage or belonging to a particular family or clan.
While there are no specific historical references to the name in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been in use among the Basque people for centuries. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be traced back to the 15th and 16th centuries, when it appeared in various documents and records from the region.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Michelena was Juan Michelena, a Spanish military officer and explorer who lived in the late 16th century. He was known for his expeditions and explorations in the Americas, particularly in present-day Venezuela and Colombia.
Another notable figure with the name Michelena was Mariano Michelena, a Mexican politician and diplomat who lived from 1775 to 1848. He played a significant role in the Mexican War of Independence and served as a diplomat representing Mexico in various countries.
In the 19th century, Ignacio Michelena (1828-1904) was a prominent Venezuelan painter and artist, renowned for his works depicting landscapes and scenes from daily life in Venezuela.
Manuel Michelena (1893-1976) was a Spanish-born American painter and sculptor who gained recognition for his works inspired by the Spanish Renaissance and Baroque periods.
Another individual with the name Michelena was Alejandro Michelena (1857-1923), a Venezuelan politician and diplomat who served as the President of Venezuela from 1917 to 1919.
While the name Michelena has its origins in the Basque region, it has been adopted and used by individuals of various cultural backgrounds, particularly those with Spanish or Latin American heritage.
People
Michelena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Michelena 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
Michelena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Michelena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Michelena 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 22,850,289 US residents.
Is Michelena a common name?
We classify Michelena as "Very Rare". It ranks above 35.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 79 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Michelena most popular?
The single biggest year for Michelena was 1920, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Michelena is about 44 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Michelena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 138 people with the name Michelena, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,373 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 Michelena 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 Michelena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Michelena leans strongly female. 135 people counted with this name were female (97.8%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.2%). 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 Michelena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Michelena is White at 82.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.7%) and Black (4.3%). 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 Michelena most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Michelena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.6% (114 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 Michelena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Michelena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Michelena 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 Michelena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Michelena 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 Michelena 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 named Michelena?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.