Michael Boy
How popular is Michael?
#21 boy name in 2025
8,094 baby boys were named Michael in the US in 2025, making it the 21st most popular boy name. Another 13 girls got the name (#7,883 for girls).
Michael popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #21 for boys (▼ 3 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 8,094 boys, 13 girls |
| 10-year trend | Falling (-44% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #9 in 2015, #12 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1957 (92,781 boys) |
| Highest rank | #1 in 1954 (44 years at that rank) |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 100% boys, 0% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 6% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Michael counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Michael family of names ranked #26 for boys in 2025 (#27 the year before), with 8,100 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Michael | 8,094 | 100% |
| Mychael | 6 | 0% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Michael is most popular
Babies named Michael per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Rhode Island: 11.0 per 1,000 (180 boys)
- Alaska: 11.0 per 1,000 (131 boys)
- Delaware: 10.7 per 1,000 (162 boys)
- Wyoming: 10.5 per 1,000 (61 boys)
- District of Columbia: 9.4 per 1,000 (139 boys)
Michael by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 3,558 | #46 |
| 1890s | 3,926 | #48 |
| 1900s | 5,220 | #44 |
| 1910s | 30,858 | #38 |
| 1920s | 37,893 | #47 |
| 1930s | 56,001 | #18 |
| 1940s | 336,568 | #5 |
| 1950s | 837,471 | #1 |
| 1960s | 833,092 | #1 |
| 1970s | 707,327 | #1 |
| 1980s | 663,807 | #1 |
| 1990s | 462,466 | #1 |
| 2000s | 250,715 | #2 |
| 2010s | 145,220 | #3 |
| 2020s | 52,631 | #12 |
Boy names about as popular as Michael
Questions
- Is Michael a boy or girl name?
- Michael is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 100% of babies named Michael were boys.
- How popular is the name Michael?
- 8,094 baby boys were named Michael in the US in 2025, making it the 21st most popular boy name. Another 13 girls got the name (#7,883 for girls).
- When was Michael most popular?
- Michael peaked in 1957, when 92,781 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #1, held for 44 years starting in 1954.
- How many people are named Michael?
- 4,448,633 babies have been named Michael in the US since 1880. We estimate about 3,630,856 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 51.
- Where is Michael most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Michael was most common in Rhode Island, at 11.0 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.