Michael

Michael is a masculine given name derived from the Hebrew phrase מי כאל ‎ mī kāʼēl, 'Who [is] like-El', in Aramaic: ܡܝܟܐܝܠ (Mīkhāʼēl [miχaˈʔel] ). The theophoric name is a rhetorical question – "Who [is] like [the Hebrew God] El?",[1] 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.

Patronymic surnames that come from Michael include Carmichael, DiMichele, MacMichael, McMichael, Michaels, Micallef, Michaelson, Michiels, Michalka, Michels, Mihály, Mikeladze, Mikhaylov, Mikkelsen, Mitchell, Michalski, Mykhaylenko and Mikaelyan.

The name first appears in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Numbers, 13:13 where Sethur the son of Michael is one of 12 spies sent into the Land of Canaan. Michael is the name of an archangel in the Book of Daniel 12:1. He is venerated in the Roman Catholic Church, the Oriental Orthodox Church, and the Eastern Orthodox Church. For the Roman Catholic Church, 29 September is the feast day of the three archangels: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. For the Orthodox Church, 8 November is the feast day commemorating the archangels Michael and Gabriel, as well as the whole host of angels, 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.

According to Islam, Michael (Mika'el) is an archangel who brings down rain to the earth by the decree of Allah. He was created from light[2] 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.[3]

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). 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.[4]

In 2014, Michael was the 20th most popular name in Northern Ireland,[5] 27th in Canada[6] and 42nd in Australia.[7] In England and Wales, Michael ranked 53rd in 2011 and 2012.[8] Michael ranked as the eighth most popular name for boys in Ireland in 2013.[9]

Variants of Michael rank among the most popular masculine names in multiple countries. It was the third most popular in Finland from 2010 – March 2015 (as Mikael),[10] seventh in Russia in 2009 (as Mikhail),[11] 14th in Spain in 2012 (as Miguel),[12] and 15th in Denmark (as Mikkel).[13]