/ (Mikha'el) , nickname = Mic, Mich,

Micha Micah (; ) is a given name. Micah is the name of several people in the Hebrew Bible ( Old Testament), and means "Who is like God?" The name is sometimes found with theophoric extensions. Suffix theophory in '' Yah'' and in ''Yahweh'' results in ...

, Mick, Mickey, Micki, Mickie, Mike, Mikey, Miki, Mikki, Mico, Miko, Mikha,

Misha Misha (russian: Миша), also known as Mishka (russian: Мишка) or The Olympic Mishka (russian: Олимпийский Мишка), is the name of the Russian Bear mascot of the 1980 Moscow Olympic Games (the XXII Summer Olympics). He w ...

, Mischa, Mitch, Mitt, Micci , related names = Machiel, Maicon or Maycon, Michaela, Michelangelo, Michal,

Michał Michał () is a Polish and Sorbian form of Michael and may refer to: * Michał Bajor (born 1957), Polish actor and musician * Michał Chylinski (born 1986), Polish basketball player * Michał Drzymała (1857–1937), Polish rebel * Michał Heller ( ...

, Micheal,

Mícheál Micheal is a masculine given name. It is sometimes an anglicized form of the Irish names Micheál, Mícheál and Michéal; or the Scottish Gaelic name Mìcheal. It is also a spelling variant of the common masculine given name '' Michael'', and is ...

, Michel, Michele,

Michelle Michelle may refer to: People * Michelle (name), a given name and surname, the feminine form of Michael * Michelle Courtens, Dutch singer, performing as "Michelle" * Michelle (German singer) * Michelle (Scottish singer) (born 1980), Scottis ...

, Michiel, Miguel, Mihael, Miha, Mihai, Mihailo, Mihajlo, Mihalis, Mikhalis, Mihály, Mihangel, Mihkel, Mihovil,

Miika Miika is a Finnish male given name. Famous people with the name include: * Miika Elomo (born 1977), Finnish ice hockey player * Miika Koppinen (born 1978), Finnish football defender * Miika Tenkula (1974–2009), Finnish heavy metal musician * Mii ...

, Mikael, Mikail, Mikal, Mikel,

Miķelis Miķelis is a Latvian male given name. It is also Latvian name of archangel Michael, therefore the celebration of autumn equinox is called Miķeļi in Latvian and Miķelis is named as protector of horses and good harvest, likely taking over funct ...

, Mikhail or Mihail (Михаил), Mihails, Maikls,

Mikkel Mikkel is a Danish and Norwegian masculine given name. It may refer to: *Mikkel Ødelien (1893–1984), Norwegian soil researcher *Mikkel Aaland (born 1952), award-winning American photographer *Mikkel Andersen (disambiguation) *Mikkel Bødker (bo ...

Mikko Mikko is a Finnish masculine given name and equivalent of the English name Michael, having been borrowed into the Finnish language. The given name Mikko is shared by the following notable people: * Mikko Alatalo, Finnish musician and politician * ...

, Mihály

Mishael Mishael ( he, מישאל, "who is like God") or Misael may refer to: Biblical figures *Mishael (son of Uzziel), cousin of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam *Original Hebrew name of Meshach People Misael *Misael (footballer, born 1987), full name Misael Sil ...

, Misho, Mitchell, Mykael, Michol, Michole , footnotes = Michael is a usually masculine given name derived from the Hebrew phrase ''mī kāʼēl'', 'Who slike-El', in

Aramaic The Aramaic languages, short Aramaic ( syc, ܐܪܡܝܐ, Arāmāyā; oar, 𐤀𐤓𐤌𐤉𐤀; arc, 𐡀𐡓𐡌𐡉𐡀; tmr, אֲרָמִית), are a language family containing many varieties (languages and dialects) that originated i ...

: ܡܝܟܐܝܠ (''Mīkhāʼēl'' ). The theophoric name is a rhetorical question – "Who slike he Hebrew God El?", whose answer is "there is none like El", or "there is none as famous and powerful as God." This question is known in Latin as Quis ut Deus?. Although sometimes considered erroneous, an alternative spelling of the name is Micheal. While Michael is most often a masculine name, it is also given to women, such as the actresses Michael Michele and Michael Learned, and Michael Steele, the former bassist for the Bangles. Patronymic surnames that come from Michael include Carmichael, DiMichele, MacMichael, McMichael, Michaels,

Micallef Micallef is a Maltese surname. It has been recorded in Malta since ancient times, and its origins probably lie in the name Micali, a variant of Michael (in Hebrew, Michael means "Who is like God"). However, another possible derivation for the surn ...

Michaelson Michaelson is an English patronymic surname meaning "son of Michael". There are varied English and Scandinavian spellings. It is rare as a given name. Notable people with the surname include: * Ben Michaelson (born 1981), American swimmer * Ingr ...

, Michiels,

Michalka Michalka () is a surname, often of Czech and Slovak origin. It can also be a nickname for Michaela Michaela (Hebrew מיכאלה) is a female given name. It is a female form of the Hebrew name Michael (מִיכָאֵל), which means "Who is like Go ...

, Michels, Mihály,

Mikeladze Mikeladze ( ka, მიქელაძე) was a Georgian noble family, known from at least the 14th century. The senior, and the princely, line of the Mikeladze flourished in Imereti (western Georgia), while a collateral branch was later establi ...

, Mikhaylov,

Mikkelsen Mikkelsen is a Danish-Norwegian patronymic surname meaning "son of Mikkel" (equivalent of Michael). People with the name Mikkelsen include: People *Andreas Mikkelsen - Norwegian rally driver * Bård Mikkelsen - Norwegian businessperson *Brian Mik ...

, Mitchell, Michalski, Mykhaylenko and

Mikaelyan Mikaelyan, Mikayelyan or Mikaelian (Armenian: Միքայելյան) is an Armenian surname meaning "son of Mikael" (Michael). It may refer to: *Aleksander Mikaelyan (born 1990), Armenian wrestler *Arman Mikaelyan (born 1996), Armenian chess grandmas ...

Religion

Judaism

The name first appears in the

Hebrew Bible The Hebrew Bible or Tanakh (;"Tanach"
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. Hebrew: ''Tān ...

in the Book of Numbers, where Sethur the son of Michael is one of 12 spies sent into the Land of

Canaan Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...

. Michael is the name of an

archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other re ...

in the Book of Daniel .

Christianity

The archangel Michael is venerated in the

Roman Catholic Church The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, the Oriental Orthodox Church, and the

Eastern Orthodox Church The Eastern Orthodox Church, also called the Orthodox Church, is the second-largest Christian church, with approximately 220 million baptized members. It operates as a communion of autocephalous churches, each governed by its bishops vi ...

. For the Roman Catholic Church, 29 September is the feast day of the three archangels: Michael, Gabriel and

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of composition, and visual ...

. For the Orthodox Church, 8 November is the feast day commemorating the archangels Michael and Gabriel, as well as the whole host of

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles inc ...

s, while the Monday of each liturgical week likewise corresponds to the "Bodiless Powers." In the Coptic Orthodox Church, his main feast days are 12 Hathor and 12 Paoni, with lesser feast days on the 12th day of each month of the Coptic calendar.

Islam

According to Islam, Michael (Mika'el) is an archangel who brings down rain to the earth by the decree of

Allah Allah (; ar, الله, translit=Allāh, ) is the common Arabic word for God. In the English language, the word generally refers to God in Islam. The word is thought to be derived by contraction from '' al- ilāh'', which means "the god", ...

. He was created from light and the one entrusted with the sustenance of creatures, and is also one of the most prominent angels. As the Angel of Mercy, he asks Allah to forgive people’s sins.

Popularity

Michael (and its variants) is one of the most common given names for men in the world. In the United States, Michael was the most popular name of the 20th century, ranking No. 1 from 1954 to 1998 (with the exception of 1960, when it was second to

David David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...

). It was among the top three most popular names for each year since 1953, only falling out of the top five in 2011 for the first time since 1949. In 2014, Michael was the 20th most popular name in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

, 27th in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tota ...

and 42nd in Australia. In

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. The substantive law of the jurisdiction is ...

, Michael ranked 53rd in 2011 and 2012. Michael ranked as the eighth most popular name for boys in

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

in 2013. Variants of Michael rank among the most popular masculine names in multiple countries. It was the third most popular in

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bo ...

from 2010 – March 2015 (as Mikael), seventh in

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eigh ...

in 2009 (as Mikhail), 14th in Spain in 2012 (as Miguel), and 15th in

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establishe ...

(as Mikkel).

People named Michael

* List of people with given name Michael * List of people with given name Mikhail

References

{{Authority control English-language unisex given names Unisex given names Hebrew-language names English unisex given names German masculine given names Theophoric names Modern names of Hebrew origin