Mickel
A Scandinavian name originating as a diminutive form of Michael.
Name Census estimates that about 1,688 living Americans carry the first name Mickel. It is a predominantly male name (97.7% of registrations). The average person named Mickel today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mickel births was 1957 (54 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mickel. 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 Mickel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 203,054 Americans
Peak year
1957
54 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2023 SSA rank
#10,416
Tracked since 1914
Census
Mickel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,422 people with the first name Mickel, which placed it at #9,680 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
#9,680
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,422 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mickel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mickel is White at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Black (35.8%) and Hispanic (10.3%). 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 Mickel 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 Mickel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.3% · 658
- Black or African American35.8% · 509
- Hispanic or Latino10.3% · 147
- Two or more races5.1% · 72
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Mickel
Mickel leans heavily male at 97.7% of total registrations, but 47 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mickel as a male name
- Ranked #10,416 in 2023
- 7 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1957 (54 births)
Mickel as a female name
- Ranked #14,402 in 2000
- 6 female births in 2000
- Peak: 1977 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mickel leans strongly male. 1,306 people counted with this name were male (91.6%), compared with 120 female bearers (8.4%).
Popularity
Mickel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mickel from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 448 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mickel 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 Mickel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mickels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Mickel, while Tennessee, Oklahoma, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mickel
The name Mickel is derived from the Hebrew name Michael, which means "who is like God?" It has its roots in the ancient Hebrew culture and can be traced back to biblical times. The earliest recorded instance of the name Michael appears in the Book of Numbers from the Hebrew Bible, referring to one of the archangels.
The name Michael gained widespread popularity during the Middle Ages across Europe, particularly in England, Scotland, and Ireland. It was often anglicized as Mickel, Mikhel, or Mykhail, reflecting regional variations in spelling and pronunciation. These variations emerged due to the influence of other languages and dialects.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Mickel was Mickel of Northgate, an English merchant who lived in the 13th century. He is mentioned in historical records from the city of York, where he was a prominent figure in the local trade guild.
In the 14th century, Mickel Flemyng was a Scottish scholar and philosopher who studied at the University of Paris. He is known for his contributions to the fields of logic and metaphysics during the medieval period.
During the Renaissance, Mickel Angelus, an Italian artist and sculptor, gained fame for his intricate woodcarvings and religious art. He was active in the early 16th century and is known for his works adorning churches and cathedrals across Italy.
In the 17th century, Mickel van der Merwe was a Dutch explorer and navigator who embarked on several voyages to the East Indies. His detailed logs and maps were instrumental in expanding the Dutch colonial presence in the region.
Towards the end of the 18th century, Mickel O'Flaherty was an Irish revolutionary and political activist who played a significant role in the Irish Rebellion of 1798. He advocated for Irish independence and was eventually captured and executed by British forces.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Mickel. While the name has its origins in Hebrew and Judeo-Christian traditions, it has been adopted and adapted by various cultures and societies over the centuries.
People
Mickel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mickel 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
Mickel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mickel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,688 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mickel 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 203,054 US residents.
Is Mickel a common name?
We classify Mickel as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,002 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mickel most popular?
The single biggest year for Mickel was 1957, when 54 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mickel is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mickel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,422 people with the name Mickel, or 0.47 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,680 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 Mickel 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 Mickel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mickel leans strongly male. 1,306 people counted with this name were male (91.6%), compared with 120 female bearers (8.4%). 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 Mickel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mickel is White at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Black (35.8%) and Hispanic (10.3%). 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 Mickel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mickel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.3% (658 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 Mickel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mickel a male name?
Yes, 97.7% of people registered as Mickel 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 Mickel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mickel 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 Mickel 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 share the name Mickel?
Find out how many people have the name Mickel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.