Michael Thomas
There are approximately 9,584 people named Michael Thomas living in the United States today. That makes this name combination rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 35,763 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Michael with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Thomas. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and ancestry information.
Expected bearers
9,584
1 in 35,763
Named Michael
3.7M
Alive today
Named Thomas
879K
Alive today
US population
343M
Denominator
Estimated living: 3.7M
Rarity: Very Common
Gender: Male
Peak year: 1957
Average age: 50
Estimated bearers: 879K
Rarity: Very Common
Census rank: #16
Per 100K: 256.34
Top ancestry: White (52.6%)
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 Thomas surname
Self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people with the surname Thomas, from the 2010 US Census Bureau. The largest group is White at 52.6%.
- White52.6%
- Black or African American38.8%
- Two or more races2.6%
- Hispanic or Latino2.5%
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4%
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1%
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 Thomas appears at a rate of 256.34 per 100,000 residents in the 2010 Census Bureau surname file, which translates to a frequency of 0.2563%.
Multiplying these two independent frequencies against the current US population of 342,754,338 gives an expected count of approximately 9,584 people with the full name Michael Thomas. 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 Thomas
FAQ
Michael Thomas: questions and answers
How many people are named Michael Thomas?
We estimate approximately 9,584 people in the United States share the full name Michael Thomas. That works out to about 1 in 35,763 Americans. This is calculated by combining the first-name frequency (1.0908%) with the surname frequency (256.34 per 100K) against the current US population.
How rare is the name Michael Thomas?
We classify Michael Thomas as "Rare". About 1 in 35,763 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.