Find out how popular the last name Michaels is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Michaels.
Derived from the given name Michael, meaning "Who is like God?" in Hebrew.
Michaels, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Michaels surname is from the 2010 census data.
Michaels is the 2057th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.
The Michaels surname appeared 17,528 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 6 people would have the surname Michaels.
We can also compare 2010 data for Michaels to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
Rank | 2057 | 1994 | 3.11% |
Count | 17,528 | 16,696 | 4.86% |
Proportion per 100k | 5.94 | 6.19 | -4.12% |
Michaels is an English patronymic surname derived from the popular medieval given name Michael, which itself originates from the Hebrew name Mikhael, meaning "who is like God?". The surname Michaels emerged in England during the late medieval period as a way to identify individuals by their father's given name.
The earliest known record of the surname Michaels dates back to the late 13th century, with a mention of a William Michaels in the Pipe Rolls of Yorkshire from 1285. In the following centuries, the name appeared in various historical records across England, such as the Subsidy Rolls of Sussex from 1327, where a John Michaels was listed.
One notable early bearer of the Michaels surname was Sir John Michaels (c. 1400-1468), a prominent English landowner and Member of Parliament for Wiltshire during the reign of King Henry VI. Another historical figure was William Michaels (c. 1510-1572), a English merchant and member of the Worshipful Company of Mercers in London.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, the surname Michaels also appeared in various spellings, such as Michaell, Michell, and Michels, reflecting the lack of standardized spelling at the time. An example of this variation can be found in the records of the Hertfordshire Visitation of 1634, which mentions a Thomas Michell of Buntingford.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the Michaels surname in North America was Richard Michaels, who arrived in Virginia from England in 1635. Another early bearer was John Michaels, who settled in Maryland in 1675.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the surname Michaels, including:
We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Michaels.
The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:
For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Michaels was:
Race/Ethnicity | Percentage | Total Occurrences |
---|---|---|
Non-Hispanic White Only | 91.74% | 16,080 |
Non-Hispanic Black Only | 2.92% | 512 |
Non-Hispanic Asian and Pacific Islander Only | 0.75% | 131 |
Non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.36% | 63 |
Non-Hispanic of Two or More Races | 1.55% | 272 |
Hispanic Origin | 2.68% | 470 |
Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.
Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Michaels has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.
2010 | 2000 | Change (%) | |
---|---|---|---|
White | 91.74% | 93.02% | -1.39% |
Black | 2.92% | 2.90% | 0.69% |
Asian and Pacific Islander | 0.75% | 0.50% | 40.00% |
American Indian and Alaskan Native | 0.36% | 0.31% | 14.93% |
Two or More Races | 1.55% | 1.38% | 11.60% |
Hispanic | 2.68% | 1.89% | 34.57% |
The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.
The history and meaning of the name Michaels was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.
If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Michaels, please contact us.
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<a href="http://namecensus.com/last-names/michaels-surname-popularity/">Michaels last name popularity, history, and meaning</a>
"Michaels last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com. Accessed on December 4, 2024. http://namecensus.com/last-names/michaels-surname-popularity/.
"Michaels last name popularity, history, and meaning". NameCensus.com, http://namecensus.com/last-names/michaels-surname-popularity/. Accessed 4 December, 2024
Michaels last name popularity, history, and meaning. NameCensus.com. Retrieved from http://namecensus.com/last-names/michaels-surname-popularity/.
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