Mikeal
A masculine name of Hebrew origin meaning "a gift from God".
Name Census estimates that about 2,153 living Americans carry the first name Mikeal. It is a predominantly male name (99.2% of registrations). The average person named Mikeal today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mikeal births was 1952 (60 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mikeal. 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 Mikeal with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 159,198 Americans
Peak year
1952
60 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,546
Tracked since 1921
Census
Mikeal in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,645 people with the first name Mikeal, which placed it at #8,737 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
#8,737
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,645 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mikeal
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mikeal is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Hispanic (8.3%). 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 Mikeal 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 Mikeal at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.3% · 1,074
- Black or African American18.1% · 297
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 137
- Two or more races5.7% · 94
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 14
Gender
Gender distribution for Mikeal
Out of the 2,400 babies given the name Mikeal since 1880, 99.2% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Mikeal as a male name
- Ranked #9,546 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1952 (60 births)
Mikeal as a female name
- Ranked #14,810 in 2002
- 6 female births in 2002
- Peak: 1996 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mikeal leans strongly male. 1,571 people counted with this name were male (95.2%), compared with 79 female bearers (4.8%).
Popularity
Mikeal: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mikeal from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 422 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
Mikeal 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 Mikeal during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mikeals live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, California, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Mikeal, while Ohio, Missouri, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mikeal
The name Mikeal has its origins in the Hebrew language and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Hebrew name Mikha'el, which means "who is like God." The name is closely related to the name Michael, with variations in spelling occurring over time and across different cultures and languages.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Mikeal can be found in the Bible, specifically in the Book of Daniel, where the archangel Michael is mentioned. In Hebrew tradition, Michael is considered one of the principal angels and a leader of the heavenly host.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Mikeal or its variations. One of the earliest recorded examples is Mikael, a 10th-century Coptic bishop and saint from Egypt. Another prominent figure was Mikael Agricola (c. 1510-1557), a Finnish clergyman and scholar who is credited with establishing the literary Finnish language.
In the 16th century, Mikael Walgemut (c. 1485-1537) was a German painter and woodcut illustrator, best known for his collaboration with Albrecht Dürer on the Nuremberg Chronicle. During the same period, Mikael Sittow (c. 1469-1525) was a renowned Estonian Renaissance painter who worked for various European courts, including those of Ferdinand II of Aragon and Henry VIII of England.
In the 19th century, Mikael Lybecker (1833-1904) was a Swedish poet and journalist who played a significant role in the Romantic literary movement in Sweden. Another notable figure was Mikael Sturdza (1886-1980), a Romanian diplomat and politician who served as the Prime Minister of Romania from 1940 to 1944.
While these examples provide a glimpse into the historical use of the name Mikeal, it is important to note that the name has been adopted and adapted across various cultures and languages over the centuries, leading to numerous variations and interpretations.
People
Mikeal + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mikeal 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
Mikeal: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mikeal?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,153 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mikeal 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 159,198 US residents.
Is Mikeal a common name?
We classify Mikeal as "Rare". It ranks above 94% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,400 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mikeal most popular?
The single biggest year for Mikeal was 1952, when 60 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mikeal 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 Mikeal in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,645 people with the name Mikeal, or 0.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,737 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 Mikeal 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 Mikeal?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mikeal leans strongly male. 1,571 people counted with this name were male (95.2%), compared with 79 female bearers (4.8%). 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 Mikeal?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mikeal is White at 65.3%. The next largest groups are Black (18.1%) and Hispanic (8.3%). 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 Mikeal most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mikeal in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.3% (1,074 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 Mikeal in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mikeal a male name?
Yes, 99.2% of people registered as Mikeal 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 Mikeal still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mikeal 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 Mikeal 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 have the name Mikeal?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Mikeal on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.