Miquel
A masculine name of Catalan origin, the variation of Michael meaning "who is like God?"
Name Census estimates that about 1,982 living Americans carry the first name Miquel. It is a predominantly male name (95.7% of registrations). The average person named Miquel today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Miquel births was 1986 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Miquel. 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 Miquel with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Miquel is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 92 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 172,934 Americans
Peak year
1986
66 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,452
Tracked since 1926
Census
Miquel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,109 people with the first name Miquel, which placed it at #7,283 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
#7,283
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,109 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
70.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Miquel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Miquel is Hispanic at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.7%) and White (7.0%). 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 Miquel 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 Miquel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino70.6% · 1,488
- Black or African American19.7% · 416
- White7.0% · 148
- Two or more races1.6% · 33
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Miquel
Miquel leans heavily male at 95.7% of total registrations, but 92 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Miquel as a male name
- Ranked #9,452 in 2023
- 8 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1986 (61 births)
Miquel as a female name
- Ranked #10,060 in 1999
- 9 female births in 1999
- Peak: 1993 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Miquel leans strongly male. 1,968 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 139 female bearers (6.6%).
Popularity
Miquel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Miquel from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 519 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Miquel 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 Miquel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Miquels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Texas, New York, California recorded the most babies named Miquel, while Ohio, Maryland, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 42 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Miquel
The given name Miquel is a masculine name with origins in the Catalan and Spanish languages. It is derived from the Hebrew name Michael, which means "who is like God?" The name has been in use since ancient times.
Miquel is a variant spelling of the name Michael, which was popular among early Christians as an homage to the Archangel Michael. The name appears in various religious texts and scriptures, including the Bible and the Quran.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Miquel was Miquel de Verí, a 13th-century Catalan poet and philosopher. Another notable figure was Miquel Barceló, a 14th-century Catalan explorer who accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the Americas.
During the Renaissance, the name Miquel was popularized by the famous Italian artist Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), whose given name was the Italian equivalent of Miquel. His artistic masterpieces, such as the Sistine Chapel ceiling and the sculpture of David, are among the most iconic works of art in the world.
In the 17th century, Miquel de Cervantes (1547-1616), the Spanish author of the classic novel "Don Quixote," was a prominent bearer of the name. His literary works have had a profound impact on the development of modern literature.
Another notable figure was Miquel Hidalgo y Costilla (1753-1811), a Mexican priest and revolutionary leader who is considered the father of Mexican independence. His "Grito de Dolores" in 1810 sparked the Mexican War of Independence against Spanish rule.
Throughout history, the name Miquel has been borne by many other notable individuals, including artists, writers, politicians, and religious figures, reflecting its enduring popularity across various cultures and time periods.
People
Miquel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Miquel 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
Miquel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Miquel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,982 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Miquel 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 172,934 US residents.
Is Miquel a common name?
We classify Miquel as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,123 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Miquel most popular?
The single biggest year for Miquel was 1986, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Miquel is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Miquel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,109 people with the name Miquel, or 0.70 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,283 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 Miquel 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 Miquel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Miquel leans strongly male. 1,968 people counted with this name were male (93.4%), compared with 139 female bearers (6.6%). 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 Miquel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Miquel is Hispanic at 70.6%. The next largest groups are Black (19.7%) and White (7.0%). 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 Miquel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Miquel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.6% (1,488 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 Miquel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Miquel a male name?
Yes, 95.7% of people registered as Miquel 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 Miquel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Miquel 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 Miquel 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 called Miquel?
You can see how many people have the name Miquel on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.