Michelina
A diminutive form of the feminine name Michelle, of French origin meaning "who is like God?"
Name Census estimates that about 980 living Americans carry the first name Michelina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Michelina today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Michelina births was 1922 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Michelina. 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
980
~ 1 in 349,749 Americans
Peak year
1922
56 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,822
Tracked since 1903
Census
Michelina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,603 people with the first name Michelina, which placed it at #8,887 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
#8,887
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,603 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Michelina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Michelina is White at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Michelina 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 Michelina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.0% · 1,458
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 73
- Two or more races1.9% · 31
- Black or African American1.8% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Michelina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Michelina from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 444 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
Michelina 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 Michelina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Michelinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Michelina, while Rhode Island, Illinois, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 132 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Michelina
Michelina is a feminine given name of Italian origin, derived from the name Michele, the Italian form of Michael. The name Michael is derived from the Hebrew name Mikhael, meaning "who is like God?". Michelina is a diminutive form of Michele, with the addition of the Italian diminutive suffix "-ina".
The name Michelina has its roots in early Christianity, as it is closely tied to the archangel Michael, one of the principal angels in the Bible. Michael is mentioned in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation, where he is depicted as a powerful protector of the people of God.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Michelina can be found in Italian Renaissance literature. Michelina was the name of a character in the 16th-century play "La Mandragola" by the Italian playwright Niccolò Machiavelli.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Michelina. One of the earliest was Michelina Wautier (1617-1689), a Baroque painter from Brussels known for her still-life paintings and portraiture.
Another notable Michelina was Michelina di Cesare (1760-1835), an Italian painter and engraver from Rome who specialized in religious and mythological subjects.
In the 20th century, Michelina Pascucci (1903-1986) was an Italian operatic soprano who performed at major opera houses around the world, including La Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
Michelina Belletti (1921-1996) was an Italian film actress who appeared in over 70 films during the Golden Age of Italian cinema, often playing comedic roles.
More recently, Michelina Ventriglia (1937-2017) was an Italian lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Italian Parliament and was known for her advocacy of women's rights and gender equality.
These are just a few examples of notable women throughout history who have carried the name Michelina, a name with rich cultural and religious significance rooted in the Italian language and early Christianity.
People
Michelina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Michelina 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
Michelina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Michelina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 980 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Michelina 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 349,749 US residents.
Is Michelina a common name?
We classify Michelina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,174 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Michelina most popular?
The single biggest year for Michelina was 1922, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Michelina is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Michelina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,603 people with the name Michelina, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,887 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 Michelina 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 Michelina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Michelina appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,608 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Michelina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Michelina is White at 91.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.6%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Michelina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Michelina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.0% (1,458 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 Michelina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Michelina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Michelina 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 Michelina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Michelina 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 Michelina 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 Michelina?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.