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Michael or Micha'el is a given name that comes from the Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל / מיכאל (mee-KHA-el), meaning "Who is like God?" In English, it is sometimes shortened to Mike, Mikey, or, especially in Ireland, Mick.
Female forms of Michael include Michelle, Michaela, Mechelle, Micheline, and Michaelle, although there are women with the name Michael, such as Michael Learned and Princess Michael of Kent. Another form is Mychal, which can either be a male or female name. Surnames that come from Michael include Carmichael, Dimichele, MacMichael, McMichael, Micallef, Michaelson, Mikhaylov and Mitchell.
The name first appears in the Bible, Numbers 13 verse 13, where Sethur the son of Michael is one of twelve spies sent into the Land of Canaan. The Archangel Michael, referred to later in the Bible (Daniel 12 verse 1), is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. 29 September is the feast day of the three archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
Michael is a popular name in the United States, and has been the first or second most popular name given to male babies in the U.S. for each year since 1954. It is in the top 50 most popular boys' names in England and Wales. The name has been popular in Orthodox Christian countries, and was borne by several rulers of the Byzantine and Russian Empires. In recent years, Michael has been the most popular name in the Philippines, the second most popular name in Finland (Mikael) and ranks among the top ten names in Denmark (Mikkel) and Ireland. It is the 23rd most popular name in Canada, and the 37th most popular in Mexico (Miguel).
"Mike", "Mick", "Mikiel", "Mikey", "Mikael", "Mic", "Mischka" (common in Russia) and "Mickey" are short forms of, or nick-names for, Michael as a given name. "Mick" is commonly associated with Irish people.
Meik and Maik are German short forms of Michael. The German pronunciation of both variants is identical to the English pronunciation of "Mike", since both are directly derived from their English counterparts. Similarly, the Welsh versions "Meical" and "Meic" are pronounced in the same way as their corresponding English analogues. Michiel (mee-KHEEL) is Dutch and the Dutch given name "Chiel" is a variation of Michiel. Mikael, Mikell, Mikkel are Scandinavian. In Swedish, "Micke" is a nick-name for "Mikael" (also spelt "Michael").
In Greek "Μιχάλης" ("Michalis" or "Mihalis") is an everyday common form of the "Μιχαήλ" ("Michail" or "Mihail"). The Russian, "Миша" ("Mischa" or "Misha") are shortened forms of "Михаил" (Mikhail). "Мишка" (Mishka) is a common diminutive form, "Миха" (Mikha) is an informal shortened form, and "Михайлович" (Mikhaylovich) is a patronymic form that can be shortened to more informal "Михалыч" (Mikhalych). Michal is Czech. Michał is Polish; Miko is Slavic. Mëhill or Mhill is the Albanian for Michael. The first belongs to the southern (Tosk) dialect, the second to the northern (Gheg) dialect. In Hebrew, "מיכה" (Mikha) is a common shortened form of "מיכאל" (Michael, pronounced Mikha'el).
Miguel is a Spanish and Portuguese form; Michel is French and popular in the Netherlands.
There are various forms of the name:
