Mishka
A Russian diminutive form of the masculine name Mikhail, derived from Hebrew for "who is like God?".
Name Census estimates that about 732 living Americans carry the first name Mishka. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mishka today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mishka births was 2019 (80 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mishka. 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 Mishka with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
732
~ 1 in 468,244 Americans
Peak year
2019
80 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,539
Tracked since 1993
Census
Mishka in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 710 people with the first name Mishka, which placed it at #16,016 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
#16,016
National first-name rank
People counted
710
710 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
55.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mishka
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mishka is Asian/Pacific Islander at 55.1%. The next largest groups are White (16.6%) and Black (14.8%). 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 Mishka 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 Mishka at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander55.1% · 391
- White16.6% · 118
- Black or African American14.8% · 105
- Hispanic or Latino9.0% · 64
- Two or more races3.0% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 11
Popularity
Mishka: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mishka 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 426 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mishka remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mishka 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 Mishka during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mishkas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Mishka, while Virginia, Florida, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mishka
Mishka is a Russian diminutive form of the name Mikhail, which is derived from the Hebrew name Michael, meaning "who is like God." The name has its roots in the Russian Orthodox Christian tradition and can be traced back to the 10th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Mishka dates back to the 11th century, when it appeared in Russian chronicles and religious texts. During this time, the name was primarily associated with members of the Russian nobility and clergy.
In the 12th century, the name Mishka gained popularity among the common people in Russia. It was often given to boys born on the feast day of St. Michael the Archangel, which is celebrated on November 8th in the Russian Orthodox Church.
One of the most notable historical figures named Mishka was Mikhail Lomonosov (1711-1765), a Russian polymath who made significant contributions to literature, education, and science. He is widely regarded as the founder of modern Russian literature and is credited with establishing the first Russian university.
Another famous bearer of the name was Mikhail Kutuzov (1745-1813), a Russian field marshal who played a crucial role in the defeat of Napoleon's invasion of Russia in 1812. His military tactics and leadership during the war earned him the nickname "Savior of Russia."
In the 20th century, Mikhail Gorbachev (1931-present), the last leader of the Soviet Union, was a prominent figure with the name Mishka. His policies of glasnost (openness) and perestroika (restructuring) paved the way for the end of the Cold War and the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Mikhail Baryshnikov (1948-present), a renowned Russian-American dancer and choreographer, is another notable bearer of the name. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century and has made significant contributions to the world of dance.
Mikhail Khodorkovsky (1963-present), a former Russian oligarch and political prisoner, is also a notable figure with the name Mishka. He was once the wealthiest man in Russia but was imprisoned for tax evasion and fraud charges, which many believed were politically motivated.
People
Mishka + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mishka 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
Mishka: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mishka?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 732 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mishka 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 468,244 US residents.
Is Mishka a common name?
We classify Mishka as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 738 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mishka most popular?
The single biggest year for Mishka was 2019, when 80 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mishka is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mishka in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 710 people with the name Mishka, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,016 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 Mishka 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 Mishka?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mishka leans strongly female. 669 people counted with this name were female (94.4%), compared with 40 male bearers (5.6%). 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 Mishka?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mishka is Asian/Pacific Islander at 55.1%. The next largest groups are White (16.6%) and Black (14.8%). 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 Mishka most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Mishka in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.1% (391 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 Mishka in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mishka a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mishka 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 Mishka still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mishka 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 Mishka 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 Mishka?
You can see how many people share the name Mishka on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.