Mikai
A variant spelling of the masculine Japanese name Mikaeru, combining the elements "mi" meaning beautiful and "kaeru" meaning change.
Name Census estimates that about 747 living Americans carry the first name Mikai. It is a predominantly male name (98.0% of registrations). The average person named Mikai today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mikai births was 2005 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mikai. 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
747
~ 1 in 458,841 Americans
Peak year
2005
59 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,678
Tracked since 1997
Gender
Gender distribution for Mikai
Mikai leans heavily male at 98.0% of total registrations, but 15 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Mikai as a male name
- Ranked #6,678 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (59 births)
Mikai as a female name
- Ranked #16,721 in 2020
- 5 female births in 2020
- Peak: 2000 (5 births)
Popularity
Mikai: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mikai from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 293 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mikai remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mikai 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 Mikai during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mikais live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Florida, New York, California recorded the most babies named Mikai, while Georgia, Maryland, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mikai
The name Mikai is a variation of the Hebrew name Michael, which means "who is like God?" or "one who is like God." It is derived from the Hebrew words "mi" meaning "who" and "ka" meaning "like" or "resembling," combined with "el" meaning "God."
The name Michael has its roots in the biblical figure of the same name, an archangel mentioned in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation in the Bible. Michael is depicted as a protector and leader of the heavenly armies against the forces of evil.
The earliest recorded use of the name Mikai dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was used as a variant spelling of Michael in various European regions. During this period, the name was particularly popular among Jewish communities, where it was often chosen for its religious significance.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Mikai was Mikai ben Gorion, a medieval Jewish scholar and historian who lived in the 9th century CE. He is best known for his work "Sefer Ha-Yishuv" (The Book of Settlement), which chronicled the history of the Jewish people in Palestine.
Another significant figure was Mikai Grobowski, a Polish-Jewish writer and activist who lived in the 16th century. He was a prominent figure in the Jewish community of Krakow and played a crucial role in defending the rights of Jews in Poland.
In the 18th century, Mikai Rosenak was a renowned rabbi and Talmudic scholar from Galicia, Poland. He was widely respected for his vast knowledge and contributed significantly to the study of Jewish law and tradition.
During the 19th century, Mikai Bakunin was a Russian revolutionary and theorist who played a prominent role in the development of anarchist thought. He was born in 1814 and is considered one of the founding figures of the anarchist movement.
In the 20th century, Mikai Tsiselsky was a Soviet politician and military leader who served as the First Deputy Minister of Defense during World War II. He was born in 1901 and played a crucial role in the Soviet war effort against Nazi Germany.
While the name Mikai has its origins in Hebrew and Jewish tradition, it has been adopted and used across different cultures and regions throughout history, reflecting the widespread influence and popularity of the name Michael.
People
Mikai + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mikai 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
Mikai: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mikai?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 747 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mikai 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 458,841 US residents.
Is Mikai a common name?
We classify Mikai as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 754 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mikai most popular?
The single biggest year for Mikai was 2005, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mikai is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mikai a male name?
Yes, 98.0% of people registered as Mikai 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.
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.