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.

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Popularity of the baby name Michael


Posts that mention the name Michael

Popular baby names in Gibraltar, 2024

Flag of Gibraltar
Flag of Gibraltar

Last year, the British overseas territory of Gibraltar welcomed 331 babies — 148 baby girls and 183 baby boys.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Olivia for girls and Noah/Thomas (tie) for boys.

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

Girl names

  1. Olivia, 5 baby girls
  2. Emilia, 4
  3. Matilda and Zara, 3 each (tie)

Boy names

  1. Noah and Thomas, 5 baby boys each (tie)
  2. Luca and Sebastian, 4 each (tie)
  3. Leon, Liam, Oliver, Ryan, Theo, and Tommy, 3 each (6-way tie)

The name Jamie was also given to three babies, but my source didn’t include much information on gender, so I don’t know if these three babies were boys, girls, or a mix of both.

The 36 names given to two babies each were Addison, Alexander, Annabelle, Arabella, Ariana, Axel, Celine, Charles, Emily, Emma, Enzo, Evan, George, Hugo, Jacob, Jesse, Julia, Kai, Kylian, Leo, Lucia, Luna, Maisie, Mia, Michael, Mila, Nicolas, Riley, Robyn, Romeo, Romy, Salma, Sofia, Stella, Thiago, and Zack.

And the 200+ names bestowed just once in Gibraltar last year were…

Adah, Adam, Adonis, Aiden, Aidon, Ajay, Alba, Albert, Aleia, Alesia, Alessandro, Alice, Alistair, Amara, Amber, Amelia, Amina, Amine, Amoura, Ana, Anas, Anaya, Andrew, Antonio, Archie, Aria, Arianna, Arley, Arlo, Arthur, Ava, Aya, Ayla, Azaria, Bella, Billy, Blake, Bodhi, Brenda, Caleb, Callie, Camden, Cara, Catharine, Cecilia, Charlie, Charlotte, Christian, Cleo, Connor, Cora, Danah, Daniella, Darcie, Darcy, Delilah, Duyna, Dylan, Edward, Eladio, Elena, Elia, Elian, Elias, Ella, Elliot, Ellis, Elowyn, Elton, Eric, Esmae, Esteban, Everleigh, Evie, Ezra, Frankie, Freya, Furkan, Gabriella, Geremiah, Gia, Gigi, Giorgia, Giorgio, Grace, Gracie, Hadley, Halo, Hannah, Haroun, Harper, Harry, Haven, Henry, Hudson, Ian, Inaaya, Inaya, Isabella, Isadora, Isla, Islam, Ivy, Jack, Jae, Jake, James, Jason, Javier, Jax, Jay, Jaylan, Joylisa, Jude, Jules, Kaine, Kallie, Katie, Kenzie, Kenzo, Khylo, Koby, Kody, Lara, Laurie, Lee, Lewis, Lilliana, Liya, Lorena, Louis, Luciano, Luke, Maeve, Manxin, Marcel, Martin, Mason, Matthew, Max, Milan, Millie, Mollie, Moshe, Mya, Myla, Naia, Naiomi, Naira, Nariah, Nellie, Niall, Nicola, Nylah, Osayd, Peter, Posie, Rachel, Rafaella, Ralfs, Ramy, Rayan, Reign, Reuven, Rian, Rina, Rio, Roan, Robbie, Robert, Roman, Rosa, Rose, Rotem, Ruairi, Ruben, Ruhe, Rupert, Sarah, Scarlett, Sean, Seth, Shashana, Shivika, Sophia, Sophie, Spencer, Sunny, Sykes, Talia, Tassim, Theodore, Tiana, Timothy, Tobias, Tristan, Tyler, Valentina, Victor, Yaakov, Zachary, Zayd, Zoe, Zyna, Zyon

Finally, here are Gibraltar’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Source: “Thomas, Noah & Olivia the most popular baby names in 2024.” GBC News 25 Mar. 2025.

Image: Adapted from Flag of Gibraltar (public domain)

Where did the baby name Micheaux come from in 1983?

College basketball player Larry Micheaux
Larry Micheaux

The curious name Micheaux surfaced in the U.S. baby name data for two years during the 1980s:

  • 1985: unlisted
  • 1984: 5 baby boys named Micheaux
  • 1983: 16 baby boys named Micheaux (debut)
  • 1982: unlisted
  • 1981: unlisted

Why?

Because of college basketball player Larry Micheaux (pronounced MEE-shaw).

Micheaux was a member of the University of Houston’s successful “Phi Slama Jama” teams of the early 1980s. His teammates included future NBA stars Akeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler.

During his last two years of college, Micheaux helped the Houston Cougars reach the NCAA Final Four (in 1982) and the NCAA National Championship Game (in 1983).

(In 1982, Houston lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels, featuring freshman phenom Michael Jordan, in the semifinals. The following year, after memorably defeating the Louisville Cardinals, a.k.a. the “Doctors of Dunk,” in the semifinals, Houston was upset by the North Carolina State Wolfpack in the championship game.)

Micheaux played in the NBA for a couple of seasons after college, but spent most of his professional career in Europe.

The French surname Micheaux can be traced back to the personal name Michel, which is the French form of Michael.

What are your thoughts on Micheaux as a first name?

Sources:

Image: Screenshot of Larry Micheaux during the 1983 NCAA Championship Game

Popular baby names in Virginia, 2024

Flag of Virginia
Flag of Virginia

Last year, the Commonwealth of Virginia welcomed roughly 94,443 babies.

What were the most popular names among these babies? Charlotte and Liam, according to the Virginia Department of Health’s Office of Vital Records.

Here are Virginia’s top 15 girl names and top 15 boy names of 2024:

Girl names

  1. Charlotte
  2. Olivia
  3. Emma
  4. Sophia
  5. Amelia
  6. Isabella
  7. Mia
  8. Ava
  9. Eleanor
  10. Evelyn
  11. Harper
  12. Elizabeth
  13. Sofia
  14. Abigail
  15. Aurora

Boy names

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. James
  4. Oliver
  5. William
  6. Henry
  7. Theodore
  8. Lucas
  9. Elijah
  10. John
  11. Levi
  12. Ethan
  13. Dylan
  14. Benjamin
  15. Michael

The state also revealed the top names within each of its four largest ethnic groups: White, Black, Hispanic and Asian. (According to the most recent CDC data, 53.1% of Virginia’s babies were born to non-Hispanic White mothers, 19.0% to Black mothers, 17.5% to Hispanic mothers, and 7.4% to Asian mothers.)

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s White babies:

Girl names, WhiteBoy names, White
1. Charlotte
2. Olivia
3. Eleanor
4. Amelia
5. Emma		1. James
2. William
3. Oliver
4. Henry
5. Theodore

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Black babies:

Girl names, BlackBoy names, Black
1. Nova
2. Naomi
3. Ava
4. Brielle
5. Zuri		1. Noah
2. Amir
3. Josiah
4. Elijah
5. Ezra

These were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Hispanic babies:

Girl names, HispanicBoy names, Hispanic
1. Mia
2. Isabella
3. Sofia
4. Genesis
5. Camila		1. Liam
2. Dylan
3. Matteo
4. Noah
5. Thiago

And these were the top 5 girl names and 5 boy names among Virginia’s Asian babies:

Girl names, AsianBoy names, Asian
1. Sophia
2. Emma
3. Olivia
4. Chloe
5. Eliana		1. Noah
2. Muhammad
3. Henry
4. Lucas
5. Ethan

Finally, here’s a link to Virginia’s 2023 rankings, if you’d like to compare last year to the year before.

Sources:

Image: Adapted from Flag of Virginia (public domain)

Top names for baby boys, length by length, in 2024

Lengths of baby boy names in 2024 (U.S.)

The most common length for baby boy names last year was 6 letters (used 29.4% of the time), followed by 5 letters (26.5%) and 4 letters (17.4%).

What were the most popular boy names of 2024 within each length group?

Top boy names with 2 letters:

  1. Bo
  2. Ty
  3. Om
  4. Aj
  5. Cy

Top boy names with 3 letters:

  1. Leo
  2. Ian
  3. Kai
  4. Eli
  5. Ace

Top boy names with 4 letters:

  1. Liam
  2. Noah
  3. Levi
  4. Ezra
  5. Jack

Top boy names with 5 letters:

  1. James
  2. Henry
  3. Mateo
  4. Lucas
  5. Ethan

Top boy names with 6 letters:

  1. Oliver
  2. Elijah
  3. Daniel
  4. Samuel
  5. Hudson

Top boy names with 7 letters:

  1. William
  2. Michael
  3. Matthew
  4. Jackson
  5. Gabriel

Top boy names with 8 letters:

  1. Theodore
  2. Benjamin
  3. Santiago
  4. Maverick
  5. Jonathan

Top boy names with 9 letters:

  1. Sebastian
  2. Alexander
  3. Christian
  4. Nathaniel
  5. Alejandro

Top boy names with 10 letters:

  1. Alessandro
  2. Maximilian
  3. Montgomery
  4. Kristopher
  5. Cristopher

Top boy names with 11 letters:

  1. Christopher
  2. Maximiliano
  3. Muhammadali
  4. Constantine
  5. Abdulrahman

Top boy names with 12 letters:

  1. Michelangelo
  2. Konstantinos
  3. Muhammadamin
  4. Maximilliano
  5. Massimiliano (tied with #6)

Top boy names with 13 letters:

  1. Muhammadyusuf
  2. Michaelangelo
  3. Kamsiyochukwu
  4. Muhammadsodiq
  5. Muhammadyasin (part of a 5-way tie)

(There weren’t enough 14-letter or 15-letter names to create a top-5 list for either group.)

Source: SSA