Michelle

What Michelle means

Feminine form of Michel, meaning “who is like God?”

feminine form of French Michel || Either a reborrowing of French Michel or a continuation (with pronunciation influenced by Modern French) of Middle English Michel, both from Old French Michel, from Latin Michāēl, borrowed from Koine Greek Μῐχᾱήλ (Mĭkhāḗl), from Biblical He

Source: Wiktionary, “Michelle” (revision 94541643) and “Michel” (revision 93016882), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Michelle?

US: Falling: down from #192 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #300 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1969, when 34,319 girls got the name (#2 that year). First in the US records in 1915.

How common

• About 1 in 2,432 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 2,043 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 1,627 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in NM (1.07 per 1,000 girls), NJ (0.93 per 1,000 girls), NV (0.87 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Michelle is #465 in the US and #346 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Michelle were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Michele28 US
• Michel9 US
• Michell7 US
• Mishelle5 US
• Mishell5 US
• Mitchelle0 US · 3 E&W

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Michele

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Michelle

Girls

• Jessica#665possibly “Iscah in Genesis 11:29, Jescha in the Wycliffe…^*
• Elizabeth#17“my God is an oath”^*
• Samantha#151“listener”^*
• Jamie#857Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1977, with 12,895 babies; 316 in 2025
• Sarah#90“masters, princes”^*
• Sara#198Variant of Sarah, meaning “masters, princes”^*

For a brother

• David#35“beloved”^*
• Daniel#22“God is my judge”^*
• Joe#991Editor’s note Peaked in the US in 1936, with 8,023 babies; 230 in 2025
• Joseph#29“(God) shall add”^*
• Matthew#32“gift of the Lord”^*
• Joshua#66“to save”^*

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Hebrew, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Michelle’s. Rank is US 2025.