Michael Bay
There are approximately 80 people named Michael Bay living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 4,284,429 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Michael with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Bay. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
80
1 in 4,284,429
Named Michael
3.7M
Alive today
Named Bay
7.4K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 3.7M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1957
Average age: 50
Estimated bearers: 7.4K
Rarity: Rare
Census rank: #5,477
Per 100K: 2.15
Top ancestry: White (83.0%)
First name trend
Michael: popularity over time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Michael. The peak year was 1957 with 93,041 births. The average person named Michael today is 50 years old.
Babies born per year
Ethnicity
Ancestry of the Bay surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Bay, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 83.0%.
- White83.0%
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3%
- Black or African American5.2%
- Hispanic or Latino4.2%
- Two or more races1.7%
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6%
Methodology
How we calculated this
The first name Michael has a living-bearer frequency of 1.0908% of the US population, based on 3,738,917 estimated living Americans carrying this first name (from SSA birth records going back to 1880, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables).
The surname Bay appears at a rate of 2.15 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.0021%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 80 people with the full name Michael Bay. This assumes statistical independence between first and last names, which is a simplification but produces reasonable estimates for most combinations.
Related
Other people named Michael
Related
Other people with the surname Bay
FAQ
Michael Bay: questions and answers
How many people are named Michael Bay?
We estimate approximately 80 people in the United States share the full name Michael Bay. That works out to about 1 in 4,284,429 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (1.0908%) with the surname frequency (2.15 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Michael Bay?
We classify Michael Bay as "Very Rare". About 1 in 4,284,429 Americans share this exact first and last name combination.
Is Michael a male or female name?
Michael is predominantly male. Out of 4,440,391 total SSA registrations, 99.5% were male and 0.5% were female. See the full Michael profile for detailed gender data.
Where does this data come from?
First-name data comes from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files (1880 to 2024). Surname data comes from the 2010 US Census Bureau decennial surname tables. Living-bearer estimates use CDC actuarial life tables to adjust for mortality. Read the full methodology.