How popular is the baby name Michael in the United States right now? How popular was it historically? Use the popularity graph and data table below to find out! Plus, see all the blog posts that mention the name Michael.

The graph will take a few moments to load. (Don't worry, it shouldn't take 9 months!) If it's taking too long, try reloading the page.


Popularity of the baby name Michael


Posts that mention the name Michael

Popular baby names in the Czech Republic, 2024

Flag of the Czech Republic
Flag of the Czech Republic

Last year, the central European country of the Czech Republic welcomed about 84,000 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Eliška (for the 13th year in a row) and Jakub (for the 14th year in a row).

Here are Czechia’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Eliška
  2. Viktorie
  3. Sofie
  4. Anna
  5. Natálie
  6. Amálie
  7. Ema
  8. Tereza
  9. Laura
  10. Adéla
  11. Julie
  12. Rozálie
  13. Nela
  14. Mia
  15. Emma
  16. Karolína
  17. Barbora
  18. Sára
  19. Stella
  20. Anežka – the Czech form of Agnes.
  21. Veronika
  22. Marie
  23. Kristýna
  24. Meda
  25. Valerie
  26. Ella
  27. Klára
  28. Jasmína
  29. Štepánka
  30. Josefína
  31. Lucie
  32. Aneta
  33. Nina
  34. Magdaléna
  35. Zuzana (3-way tie)
  36. Ester (3-way tie)
  37. Beáta (3-way tie)
  38. Alžbeta (tie) – the Slovak form of Elizabeth.
  39. Elena (tie)
  40. Rozárie – the Czech form of Rosaria.
  41. Katerina
  42. Sofia
  43. Leontýna
  44. Liliana
  45. Gabriela
  46. Emily
  47. Amélie
  48. Adriana (3-way tie)
  49. Michaela (3-way tie)
  50. Stela (3-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Jakub
  2. Matyáš
  3. Jan
  4. Adam
  5. Matej
  6. David
  7. Vojtech
  8. Filip
  9. Dominik
  10. Tomáš
  11. Daniel
  12. Tobiáš
  13. Oliver
  14. Štepán
  15. Antonín
  16. Sebastian
  17. Lukáš
  18. Martin
  19. Ondrej
  20. Mikuláš
  21. Šimon (tie)
  22. Marek (tie)
  23. Samuel
  24. Jonáš
  25. Václav
  26. Petr (tie)
  27. Teodor (tie)
  28. Patrik
  29. Jirí – the Czech form of George.
  30. Tadeáš
  31. Kryštof
  32. Michal
  33. Viktor
  34. Vilém – the Czech form of William.
  35. Jáchym
  36. Eliáš
  37. Josef
  38. Richard
  39. Eduard
  40. František
  41. Albert
  42. Tobias
  43. Theodor
  44. Alex
  45. Pavel
  46. Kristián (tie)
  47. Damián (tie)
  48. Vincent
  49. Jindrich – the Czech form of Heinrich.
  50. Michael

The girls’ top 100 included Markéta (57th), Klaudie (68th), Nella (76th), and Bára (97th).

The boys’ top 100 included Vít (55th), Robin (60th), Hynek (66th), and Kevin (81st).

Speaking of Kevin…Czech journalist Michal Kašpárek (who helped build an app based on Czechia’s baby name data) mentioned Kevin and several other non-Czech names during an interview with Radio Prague International last year. Some quotes:

  • Amélie: “Before the movie Amélie came out in 2001 about one girl a year in the Czech Republic was named Amélie. The year after there [were] 13, out of nowhere, and then the number doubled each year until reaching today’s 180 or so Amélies every year.”
  • Kevin: “Kevin became really popular after Home Alone came out, which was in the ’90s, when American names in general got more popular in the Czech Republic.”
  • Bob: “[O]ur data also shows that the first Bobs were showing up in the 1960s, possibly due to Bob Dylan.”
  • Amy: “There was also a big increase in the name Amy around that time that Amy Winehouse hit it big. That was a trend that didn’t stop after she passed away. Amy is still a really common name, and it hadn’t been before.”

I didn’t post about Czechia’s top baby names of 2023, but here are Czechia’s 2016 rankings.

P.S. Several Czech letters, such as R-with-caron and E-with-caron, don’t render properly on my site. So please imagine that they exist in several of the names above: the girl names Alžbeta, Katerina, and Štepánka, and the boy names Jindrich, Jirí, Matej, Ondrej, Štepán, and Vojtech.

Sources: Detským jménum loni opet kralovali Jakub a Eliška – Ceský statistický úrad, Eliška and Jakub remain most popular baby names in Czechia – Radio Prague International, Jakub, Eliška… Kevin: App spotlights first names in Czechia – Radio Prague International, Behind the Name

Image: Adapted from Flag of the Czech Republic (public domain)

Popular and unique baby names in Austria, 2024

Flag of Austria
Flag of Austria

Last year, the European country of Austria welcomed 77,238 babies — 37,463 girls and 39,775 boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Emilia and Elias.

Here are Austria’s top 50 girl names and top 50 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Emilia, 534 baby girls
  2. Emma, 523
  3. Marie, 518
  4. Anna, 516
  5. Sophia, 488
  6. Mia, 462
  7. Lena, 433
  8. Valentina, 422
  9. Lea, 398
  10. Laura, 397
  11. Hannah, 395
  12. Lina, 390
  13. Sophie, 380
  14. Johanna, 370
  15. Leonie, 364
  16. Nora, 332
  17. Luisa, 328
  18. Olivia, 325
  19. Lara, 315
  20. Elena, 305
  21. Ella, 297
  22. Amelie, 278
  23. Mila, 257
  24. Antonia, 256
  25. Helena, 253
  26. Magdalena, 251
  27. Valerie, 239
  28. Lia, 228
  29. Hanna, 225
  30. Miriam, 218
  31. Livia, 211
  32. Elisa, 210
  33. Isabella, 209
  34. Sara, 201
  35. Theresa, 200
  36. Alina, 197
  37. Julia, 196
  38. Elina, 187 (tie)
  39. Paulina, 187 (tie)
  40. Ida, 183 (tie)
  41. Leni, 183 (tie)
  42. Paula, 182 (tie)
  43. Sofia, 182 (tie)
  44. Sarah, 180
  45. Klara, 174
  46. Rosa, 173
  47. Flora, 171
  48. Aurelia, 170 (3-way tie)
  49. Emily, 170 (3-way tie)
  50. Katharina, 170 (3-way tie)

Boy names

  1. Elias, 671 baby boys
  2. Paul, 659
  3. Noah, 621
  4. Jakob, 620
  5. Maximilian, 599
  6. Felix, 584
  7. Leon, 561
  8. David, 500
  9. Jonas, 499
  10. Leo, 489
  11. Lukas, 453
  12. Tobias, 430
  13. Valentin, 424
  14. Moritz, 422
  15. Matteo, 394
  16. Theo, 366
  17. Anton, 363
  18. Fabian, 351
  19. Alexander, 349
  20. Julian, 338
  21. Liam, 332
  22. Simon, 329
  23. Samuel, 321
  24. Emil, 316
  25. Luca, 304
  26. Matthias, 282
  27. Luis, 280
  28. Raphael, 272
  29. Adam, 260
  30. Florian, 259
  31. Johannes, 252
  32. Gabriel, 248 (tie)
  33. Lorenz, 248 (tie)
  34. Emilio, 247
  35. Theodor, 233
  36. Finn, 231
  37. Oskar, 224
  38. Niklas, 222
  39. Leopold, 214
  40. Oliver, 212
  41. Benjamin, 202 (tie)
  42. Jonathan, 202 (tie)
  43. Sebastian, 196
  44. Ben, 192 (tie)
  45. Fabio, 192 (tie)
  46. Michael, 190
  47. Mateo, 185
  48. Kilian, 181
  49. Luka, 180
  50. Josef, 174

According to Statistics Austria, “12.5% of all newborn girls and 14.6% of all newborn boys were given one of the 10 most popular first names” in 2024.

At the other end of the spectrum are the thousands of names that were given to a single baby each last year. Here’s a selection:

Unique girl namesUnique boy names
Aorta, Beppa, Chisimdi, Desdina, Ekklesia, Febronia, Gustava, Hibat, Ikonija, Jolongi, Krinka, Lhanzey, Mrittika, Notburga, Ofri, Pinia, Rimpy, Songül, Tsvetelina, Uerda, Vanadis, Wranga, Yangtso, ZorjanaAerzu, Benneth, Cvijetin, Daphnis, Encho, Flavio, Gervin, Hanrui, Ireneus, Jandost, Kalsang, Linneo, Menippos, Nikolozi, Osimhen, Peyami, Reie, Shkelzen, Takuto, Utku, Veton, Wenz, Yetkin, Zhihmond

I don’t think I’ve ever seen Aorta — the word for the largest artery in the human body — used as a personal name before.

Notburga was the name of a medieval Austrian saint, and Osimhen may have been inspired by Nigerian soccer player Victor Osimhen.

Finally, here’s a link to Austria’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare.

Sources: First names of newborns – Statistics Austria (in German), Emilia and Elias favourite baby names in 2024 – Statistics Austria (pdf), Atlas der Vornamen – Statistics Austria, Demographic characteristics of newborns – Statistics Austria

Image: Adapted from Flag of Austria (public domain)


Where did the baby name Riggan come from in 2016?

The character Riggan Thomson from the movie "Birdman" (2014)
Riggan Thomson from “Birdman“

The rare name Riggan has appeared in the U.S. baby name data just once so far, in 2016:

  • 2018: unlisted
  • 2017: unlisted
  • 2016: 7 baby boys named Riggan [debut]
  • 2015: unlisted
  • 2014: unlisted

Where did it come from?

My guess is the dark comedy/drama Birdman, which was released in October of 2014.

The movie’s main character, Riggan Thomson (played by Michael Keaton), was a washed-up Hollywood actor who’d become famous for portraying the winged superhero Birdman in a trilogy of blockbuster films 20 years earlier. He was now trying to revive his career by starring in a self-written, self-directed Broadway adaptation of the Raymond Carver story “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love.”

Birdman went on to win four Academy Awards, including Best Picture, in early 2015.

What are your thoughts on the baby name Riggan?

Sources: Birdman – Wikipedia, Birdman (review) – RogerEbert.com, SSA

Image: Screenshot of Birdman

Top Hebrew baby names in Israel, 5785

Flag of Israel
Flag of Israel

The country of Israel releases two sets of baby name rankings: one for the Gregorian year (e.g., 2024), the other for the Hebrew year.

I don’t usually post the Hebrew-year rankings, but I was intrigued by the latest set, which was released a couple of weeks before the end of 5785 (Oct. 2024 to Sep. 2025, roughly).

Below are Israel’s top 10 girl names and top 10 boy names — both overall and among Jewish residents specifically — for the Hebrew year 5785:

Girls names

Top girl names, all babiesTop girl names, Jewish babies
Avigail
Miriam
Libi
Tamar
Sara
Lia
Yael
Ella
Ayala
Noa		Avigail
Tamar
Libi
Yael
Sara
Ella
Noa
Lia
Ayala
Esther

Boy names

Top boy names, all babiesTop boy names, Jewish babies
Muhammad
Yosef
Adam
David
Lavie/Lavi
Ariel
Omar
Rafael
Uri
Yehuda		Lavie/Lavi
Ariel
David
Rafael
Uri
Yehuda
Eliya
Ari
Eitan
Micha’el

The news release suggested that Lavi, which means “lion” in Hebrew, became the most popular name for Jewish boys due to the influence of Israel’s Operation Am KeLavi (“a people like a lion”), which was launched against Iran in June of 2025. (The war lasted 12 days.)

Except…Lavi has been close to the top spot for several years now. It ranked #2 among Jewish boys in both 2023 and 2020, for instance. So did the headlines really push Lavi to #1, or would it have ended up there regardless?

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Israel (public domain)