Mishel
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "who is like God".
Name Census estimates that about 297 living Americans carry the first name Mishel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mishel today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mishel births was 2008 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mishel. 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 Mishel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
297
~ 1 in 1,154,055 Americans
Peak year
2008
14 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,995
Tracked since 1968
Census
Mishel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 644 people with the first name Mishel, which placed it at #17,227 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
#17,227
National first-name rank
People counted
644
644 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
42.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mishel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mishel is Hispanic at 42.2%. The next largest groups are White (39.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.5%). 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 Mishel 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 Mishel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino42.2% · 272
- White39.1% · 252
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.5% · 74
- Black or African American5.1% · 33
- Two or more races2.0% · 13
Popularity
Mishel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mishel from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 97 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Mishel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mishel 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 Mishel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mishels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mishel
The name Mishel is derived from the Hebrew name Michael, which means "who is like God?" or "one who is God-like." Its origins can be traced back to ancient Hebrew texts, particularly the Old Testament, where it refers to the Archangel Michael.
The name Michael is mentioned several times in the Bible, most notably in the Book of Daniel and the Book of Revelation. In the Book of Daniel, Michael is described as one of the chief princes and the protector of the Israelites. In the Book of Revelation, Michael is portrayed as leading the heavenly armies against the forces of evil.
The name Mishel is a variant spelling that emerged in various cultures and languages over time. In some Slavic languages, such as Russian and Ukrainian, the name is spelled as Mishel or Mikhail. In other languages, like Spanish and French, it is spelled as Miguel.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mishel can be found in the writings of the 4th-century Christian scholar, St. Jerome, who translated the Bible into Latin. He used the name Michael in his translation of the Old Testament.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Mishel or its variants. One of the most famous was Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-2022), the last leader of the Soviet Union, who played a pivotal role in ending the Cold War.
Another prominent figure was Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1616), the renowned Spanish writer and author of the literary masterpiece "Don Quixote." In the realm of science, the Russian chemist Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765) made significant contributions to the fields of physics, chemistry, and astronomy.
In the world of music, Michael Jackson (1958-2009), the "King of Pop," left an indelible mark with his legendary career and iconic songs. Similarly, the French composer Michel Legrand (1932-2019) was renowned for his film scores and jazz compositions.
These are just a few examples of the many notable individuals who have borne the name Mishel or its variations throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and significance across diverse cultures and eras.
People
Mishel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mishel 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
Mishel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mishel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 297 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mishel 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 1,154,055 US residents.
Is Mishel a common name?
We classify Mishel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 304 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mishel most popular?
The single biggest year for Mishel was 2008, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mishel is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mishel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 644 people with the name Mishel, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,227 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 Mishel 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 Mishel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mishel leans strongly female. 527 people counted with this name were female (81.1%), compared with 123 male bearers (18.9%). 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 Mishel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mishel is Hispanic at 42.2%. The next largest groups are White (39.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.5%). 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 Mishel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Mishel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.2% (272 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 Mishel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mishel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mishel 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.
Is Mishel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mishel 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 Mishel 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 Mishel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.