Mikhaila
A feminine name of Russian origin meaning "who is like God".
Name Census estimates that about 511 living Americans carry the first name Mikhaila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mikhaila today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mikhaila births was 1996 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mikhaila. 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
511
~ 1 in 670,752 Americans
Peak year
1996
35 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,764
Tracked since 1984
Popularity
Mikhaila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mikhaila from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 210 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mikhaila 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 Mikhaila during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mikhailas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Mikhaila, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mikhaila
The name Mikhaila is a modern variation of the Russian name Mikhail, which itself is derived from the Hebrew name Michael. The name Michael means "who is like God" in Hebrew.
Mikhail is a popular name in Russia and other Slavic countries, with a long history dating back to the 10th century. The name was borne by several prominent Russian rulers, including Grand Prince Mikhail Yaroslavich of Vladimir (1271-1319) and Tsar Mikhail Fyodorovich Romanov (1596-1645), the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty.
The feminine form of Mikhail, Mikhailina, was used in medieval Russia, but it was not as common as the masculine form. The modern variation Mikhaila, and its spelling variant Mikhaila, emerged in the late 20th century as a more Westernized version of the traditional Russian name.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Mikhaila was by the Russian-American author and philosopher Ayn Rand, who gave the name to one of the characters in her novel "Atlas Shrugged," published in 1957. However, it is unclear if this was meant to be a Russian name or a variation of the English name Michaela.
Other notable people named Mikhaila include Mikhaila Peterson (born 1992), a Canadian podcaster and author, and Mikhaila Friel (born 1987), an Irish actress known for her roles in television shows like "Skins" and "Ripper Street."
In the world of sports, Mikhaila Shiffrin (born 1995) is an American alpine ski racer and two-time Olympic gold medalist, and Mikhaila Petcheva (born 1982) is a Bulgarian former tennis player.
While the name Mikhaila is not as common as its masculine counterpart Mikhail, it has gained popularity in recent years, particularly in Western countries, as a unique and culturally diverse name with Russian and Hebrew roots.
People
Mikhaila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mikhaila 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
Mikhaila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mikhaila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 511 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mikhaila 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 670,752 US residents.
Is Mikhaila a common name?
We classify Mikhaila as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 522 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mikhaila most popular?
The single biggest year for Mikhaila was 1996, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mikhaila is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Mikhaila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mikhaila 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.
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.