Michol
A feminine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "who is like God?".
Name Census estimates that about 50 living Americans carry the first name Michol. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Michol today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Michol births was 1981 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Michol. 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 Michol. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
50
~ 1 in 6,855,087 Americans
Peak year
1981
15 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1981 SSA rank
#4,871
Tracked since 1942
Census
Michol in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 208 people with the first name Michol, which placed it at #37,486 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
#37,486
National first-name rank
People counted
208
208 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Michol
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Michol is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Black (21.6%) and Hispanic (13.0%). 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 Michol 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 Michol at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.2% · 121
- Black or African American21.6% · 45
- Hispanic or Latino13.0% · 27
- Two or more races3.8% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 3
Popularity
Michol: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Michol from the 1940s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 20 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
Michol 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 Michol 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 Michol
The name Michol is a Hebrew name with roots dating back to the Old Testament. It is derived from the Hebrew word "mikhal," which means "stream of water" or "brook." This name is believed to have originated in ancient Israel during the time of the biblical kings, around 1000 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Michol comes from the Bible's First Book of Samuel. Michol was the younger daughter of King Saul and became the wife of King David. She is mentioned as helping David escape from her father's wrath by lowering him through a window.
Over the centuries, the name Michol has been used by various notable figures. In the 12th century, Michol of Whitland was a Welsh princess and daughter of Rhys ap Gruffydd, a prominent ruler of the Kingdom of Deheubarth. She lived from around 1160 to 1212.
Another historical figure with the name Michol was Michol de Bourgogne, a French noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was born around 1230 and served as the Lady of Bourbon.
In the 16th century, Michol de Boterel was a French writer and poet known for her works in the Occitan language. She was born in 1535 and died in 1597.
Moving forward, Michol Govrin was an Israeli author and playwright born in 1950. She gained recognition for her novels and plays that explore Jewish identity and the complexities of Israeli society.
While not as common in modern times, the name Michol continues to carry a rich historical legacy rooted in ancient Hebrew culture and biblical references, making it a unique and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with deep cultural significance.
People
Michol + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Michol 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
Michol: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Michol?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 50 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Michol 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 6,855,087 US residents.
Is Michol a common name?
We classify Michol as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 65 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Michol most popular?
The single biggest year for Michol was 1981, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Michol is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Michol in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 208 people with the name Michol, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,486 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 Michol 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 Michol?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Michol on both sides of the split. Of the 210 people counted with this name, 70 were male (33.3%) and 140 were female (66.7%). 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 Michol?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Michol is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Black (21.6%) and Hispanic (13.0%). 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 Michol most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Michol in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.2% (121 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 Michol in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Michol a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Michol 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 Michol still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Michol 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 Michol 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 Michol?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.