Michael - Name Meaning and Origin

The boy's and girl's name Michael \m(i)-chael\ is pronounced MYE-kal. It is of Hebrew origin, and its meaning is "who resembles God". Biblical: Michael is the archangel (chief or principal angel) who defeats the dragon. He and Gabriel are the only two angels given personal names in the canonical Bible. Many saints, emperors, and kings have borne the name, and there are many variants, male and female. Michiel, the Gaelic spelling, is frequently used. This may be intentional, or it may be an accidental transposition of the "ae" vowels. Michael and Angelo are frequently blended in Latin-based language-speaking countries, as in Michelangelo Buonarroti, the Italian artist. Miguel (mee-GEL) is a Spanish and Portuguese form; Michel is French and popular in the Netherlands; Michiel (mee-KHEEL) is Dutch; Mikael, Mikell, Mikkel are Scandinavian; Michail, Mikhail are Russian; Michal is Polish; Miko is Slavic; Mikel, Miquel are Basque, French. Of the many national variants, several are indicated here. Baseball star Mickey Mantle; actors Mickey Rooney, Michael Caine, Michael J. Fox, Michel Chiklis, Michael Gambon, Michael Imperioli, Mike Myers; singers Michael Jackson, Mick Jagger; cartoon star Mickey Mouse; Soviet statesman Mikhail Gorbachev; hockey player Mike Modano; fashion designer Michael Kors.

Michael has 40 variant forms: Makai, Micael, Mical, Micha, Michaelangelo, Michail, Michal, Micheal, Michel, Michelangelo, Michele, Michiel, Mickey, Micky, Miguel, Mihail, Mihaly, Mikael, Mike, Mikel, Mikell, Mikey, Mikkel, Mikhail, Mikhalis, Mikhos, Mikkel, Miko, Mikol, Miky, Miquel, Mischa, Misha, Mitch, Mitchell, Mychael, Mychal, Mykal, Mykel and Mykell.

For more information, see also the related name Micah.

Baby names that sound like Michael are Mishal, Mishaal and Mitchel.

Michael is a very popular male first name and a very popular surname (source: 1990 U.S. Census). Displayed below is the baby name popularity trend for the boy's name Michael. Click here to compare Michael with related baby names.