Michael

See also: Michaël

English

Alternative forms

• Michaell, Mykal

Etymology

From Middle English Michael, from Old French Michel, Old English Michahel, and directly from their source Latin Michaēl, from Ancient Greek Μῐχᾱήλ (Mĭkhāḗl), from Biblical Hebrew מִיכָאֵל (mîḵāʾēl, literally “who is like God?”). Doublet of Miguel and Mikhail.

Pronunciation

• enPR: mīʹkəl, IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪkəl/, [ˈmɐɪ.kɫ̩]
  • (Northeast) IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪɡəl/, [ˈmɐɪ.ɡɫ̩]
    • (Nuyorican) IPA^(key): /ˈmaɪɡō/, [ˈmɐɪ.ɡo̞ʊ]

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪkəl

Proper noun

Michael (countable and uncountable, plural Michaels)

1. (countable) A male given name from Hebrew.
   • 1629, Thomas Adams, Meditations upon Creed: The Works of Thomas Adams, James Nichol (1862), volume 3, page 212:

     Yea, it seems to me not fit for Christian humility to call a man Gabriel or Michael, giving the names of angels to the sons of mortality.

   • 2008, Philip Hensher, The Northern Clemency, HarperCollins, →ISBN, page 498:

     He works in the steelworks, the boyfriend, on the factory floor. I'd say that was quite unusual, he's called Michael. Insists on that, he does, not being called Mike or Micky or Mick, pretends not to hear you, then, "No, my name's actually Michael."

   • 2013 July 26, “Elisheva Baskin and Michael Stein”, in The New York Times‎^[1], New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 29 July 2013:

     Elisheva Baskin and Michael Stein are to be married Sunday evening at the Palisadium, an event space in Cliffside Park, N.J. Rabbi Yaacov Love is to officiate.

   • 2015 August 25, Sue Grafton, X, Penguin, →ISBN, page 277:

     He looked more like a Michael; big guy, dark-haired, good posture, his back ramrod straight.

   • 2023 June 21, Haley Talbot and Kristin Wilson, “House votes to censure Democratic congressman who led Trump investigations”, in CNN‎^[2]:

     The vote was 213-209 along party lines. Republican members of the House Ethics Committee – Michael Guest of Mississippi, Dave Joyce of Ohio, Andrew Garbarino of New York, John Rutherford of Florida and Michelle Fischbach of Minnesota – voted present. GOP Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado also voted present but he is not on the Ethics Committee.

2. (Judaism, Christianity, Islam) An archangel associated with defending the faithful in the tribulation.

   Synonyms: Provost of Heaven, Provost of Paradise, Saint Michael

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Daniel 12:1:

     And at that time shall Michael stand up, the great prince that standeth for the children of thy people.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Revelation 12:7:

     And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon.

3. A surname transferred from the given name.
4. A parish and sheading of the Isle of Man.

   Meronyms: Ballaugh, Jurby

Derived terms

• Creech St Michael
• Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels
• Kirkmichael, Kirk Michael
• Michael acceptor
• Michael addition
• Michael donor
• Michael reaction
• Michaels
• Michaelson
• Saint Michael
• St Michael
• St Michael Caerhays
• St Michael Penkevil, St Michael Penkivel
• St Michael's
• St Michael's Mount
• St Michael's on Wyre
• Stoke St Michael
• take the Michael

Related terms

pet forms

• Mick
• Mickey
• Micky
• Mike
• Mikey

variants

• Michell
• Miles
• Mitchell

feminine forms

• Michaela
• Michele
• Michelle

Descendants

transliterations from English

• Armenian: Մայքլ (Maykʻl)
• → Chinese: 邁克爾 / 迈克尔 (Màikè'ěr) (transliteration)
• Greek: Μάικλ (Máikl)
• Welsh: Meical

Translations

male given name

• Albanian: Mhill m, Mëhill m
• Arabic: مِيكَائِيل (mīkāʔīl), مِيخَائِيل m (mīḵāʔīl), مِيكَال m (mīkāl), مَايْكِل m (māykil) (English name), مِيشَال m (mīšāl) (French name), مِيشِيل m (mīšīl) (French name)
• Aragonese: Miguel m
• Armenian: Միքայել (Mikʻayel)
• Azerbaijani: Mikayıl
• Basque: Mikel (eu)
• Belarusian: Міхаі́л (Mixaíl)
• Breton: Michel m, Mikael (br) m
• Bulgarian: Михаил (Mihail), (English name) Ма́йкъл m (Májkǎl)
• Catalan: Miquel (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 米高 (mai⁵ gou¹)

  Mandarin: 邁克爾 / 迈克尔 (zh) (Màikè'ěr) (mainland China), 麥可 / 麦可 (zh) (Màikě) (Taiwan)

• Cornish: Mygal
• Corsican: Micheli m, Michele m
• Czech: Michal (cs) m
• Danish: Michael, Mikael, Mikkel
• Dutch: Michiel (nl), Michaël (nl), Michel (nl), Maikel (nl)
• Esperanto: Mikelo, Miĥaelo, Mikaelo
• Estonian: Miikael, Mihkel
• Faroese: Mikkjal, Mikal
• Finnish: Mikko (fi)
• French: Michel (fr) m, Michaël (fr) m

  Old French: Michiel m

• Galician: Miguel (gl) m
• Georgian: მიხეილი (mixeili)
• German: Michael (de) m

  Old High German: Michel m

• Greek: Μιχαήλ (el) m (Michaḯl), Μιχάλης (el) m (Michális)

  Ancient Greek: Μιχαήλ m (Mikhaḗl)

• Greenlandic: Mikaali
• Hawaiian: Mikaʻele, Mikala
• Hebrew: מיכאל (he) (Mîḵāʾēl)
• Hindi: माइकल m (māikal)
• Hungarian: Mihály (hu)
• Icelandic: Michael (is), Mikael (is), Mikjáll (is)
• Inuktitut: ᒥᑲᐃᓪ (mikail)
• Irish: Micheál m
• Italian: Michele (it) m
• Japanese: マイケル (Maikeru), (English name) マイクル (Maikuru)
• Khakas: Мухонис (Muxonis)
• Korean: 마이클 (Maikeul) (English name), 미카일 (Mikail)
• Latin: Michaēl m
• Latvian: Miķelis m, (English name) Maikls m
• Leonese: Micael, Migel

  Old Leonese: Migael

• Lithuanian: Mikalos, Mykolas (lt) m
• Lombard: Michee m
• Macedonian: Ми́хаил m (Míhail)
• Malay: Mikail
• Maltese: Mikiel
• Māori: Mikaere
• Middle English: Michel
• Norman: Miché m (Jersey), Michi (Continental Normandy)
• Norwegian: Mikael (no)
• Occitan: Miquèl (oc) m, Miquèu (oc) m, Micheu m
• Persian: میکائیل (fa) (mikâ'il), مایکل (mâykel) (English name)
• Piedmontese: Michel
• Polish: Michał (pl) m
• Portuguese: Miguel (pt) m, Maicon (pt) m
• Romanian: Mihai (ro) m

  Cyrillic: Михай m (Mihai)

• Russian: Михаи́л (ru) m (Mixaíl) (cognate), Майкл (ru) m (Majkl) (English name)
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: Mihkkal, Mikkal

• Sardinian: Micheli m
• Scottish Gaelic: Mìcheal m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Михајло m, Миховил m

  Latin: Mihajlo m, Mihovil m

• Sicilian: Micheli (scn) m
• Slovak: Michal (sk) m
• Slovene: Míchael (sl) m, Míha (sl) m
• Spanish: Miguel (es) m, (transliteration) Máicol m, Misel m
• Swedish: Mikael (sv)
• Thai: ไมเคิล (Mai-kə̂ən)
• Turkish: Mikâil (tr)
• Ukrainian: Миха́йло (uk) m (Myxájlo), Михаї́л m (Myxajíl) (especially Biblical, influenced by Church Slavonic), Майкл m (Majkl)
• Uyghur: مىكائىل (mika'il), مايكېل (maykël) (English name)
• Uzbek: Mikoil
• Venetian: Michièl m
• Vietnamese: Mai-cơn
• Vilamovian: Mychuł
• Walloon: Mitchî (wa) m
• Welsh: Meical m, (literary, rare) Mihangel m
• Yakut: Мэхээлэ (Meqeele)
• Yiddish: מיכאל m (mikhoyl)

archangel

• Albanian: Mhill m,
• Arabic: مِيكَائِيل (mīkāʔīl), مِيخَائِيل (mīḵāʔīl), مِيكَال m (mīkāl)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܡܝܟܐܝܠ (Mīḵāʾēl), ܡܝܟܝܠ (rare)

• Armenian: Միքայել (Mikʻayel)
• Catalan: Miquel (ca) m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 米迦勒 (Mǐjiālè), 彌額爾 / 弥额尔 (Mí'é'ěr) (Catholic)

• Czech: Michael (cs) m
• Danish: Mikael
• Esperanto: Miĥaelo, Mikaelo
• Estonian: Miikael
• Faroese: Mikael m
• Finnish: Mikael (fi)
• French: Michel (fr) m

  Old French: Michel m, Michiel m

• Galician: Miguel (gl) m
• German: Michael (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: Μιχαήλ m (Mikhaḗl)

• Hawaiian: Mikaʻela
• Hebrew: מיכאל (he)
• Hindi: मिकाएल m (mikāel)
• Hungarian: Mihály (hu)
• Irish: Mícheál m
• Italian: Michele (it) m
• Japanese: ミカエル (Mikaeru), ミハイル (Mihairu), ミヒャエル (Mihyaeru)
• Kazakh: Миқайл (Miqail)
• Korean: 미카엘 (ko) (Mika'el)
• Latin: Michaēl m
• Latvian: Miķelis m
• Leonese: Micael, Migel

  Old Leonese: Migael

• Lithuanian: Mykolas (lt) m
• Macedonian: Михаил (Mihail)
• Malay: Mikail
• Māori: Mikaere
• Middle English: Michel
• Norman: Saint Miché m (Jersey), Miché m (Jersey)
• Norwegian: Mikael (no)
• Persian: میکائیل (fa) (mikâ'il)
• Polish: Święty Michał Archanioł m, Michał (pl) m
• Portuguese: Miguel (pt) m
• Romanian: Mihail m

  Cyrillic: Михаил m (Mihail)

• Russian: Михаи́л (ru) m (Mixaíl)
• Sami:

  Northern Sami: Mikael

• Scottish Gaelic: Mìcheal m
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: Михајло m, Микаил m

  Latin: Mihajlo m, Mikail m

• Spanish: Miguel (es) m
• Swedish: Mikael (sv)
• Tatar: Микаил (Miqail)
• Turkish: Mikâil (tr)
• Ukrainian: Михаї́л (Myxajíl)
• Uyghur: مىكائىل (mika'il)
• Uzbek: Mikoil
• Vietnamese: Micae
• Walloon: Mitchî (wa) m
• Welsh: Mihangel m
• Yiddish: מיכאל m (mikhoyl)

Statistics

• Michael is the most common given name in the United States, with an estimated 3.8 million people bearing this name.

Anagrams

• Micheal, chameli, helicam

Cebuano

Etymology

From English Michael, from Latin Michaēl, Michahēl, from Biblical Hebrew מִיכָאֵל (mîḵāʾēl, “who is like God?”).

Proper noun

Michael

1. a male given name from English [in turn from Hebrew]

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:Michael.

Czech

Alternative forms

• Michal

Etymology

From Vulgate Latin Michaēl, Michahēl, from Biblical Hebrew מִיכָאֵל (mîḵāʾēl, literally “who is like God?”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈmɪxaɛl]

Proper noun

Michael m anim

1. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Michael

Declension

Declension of Michael (hard masculine animate)

	singular	plural
nominative	Michael	Michaelové
genitive	Michaela	Michaelů
dative	Michaelovi, Michaelu	Michaelům
accusative	Michaela	Michaely
vocative	Michaeli	Michaelové
locative	Michaelovi, Michaelu	Michaelech
instrumental	Michaelem	Michaely

Further reading

• “Michael”, in Příruční slovník jazyka českého (in Czech), 1935–1957
• “Michael”, in Slovník spisovného jazyka českého (in Czech), 1960–1971, 1989

Danish

Alternative forms

• Mikael

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin Michael, Michahēl, from Biblical Hebrew מיכאל (mikhael, “who is like God?”).

Proper noun

Michael

1. a common Danish male given name

Related terms

• (male given names) Mike, Mikkel
• (female given names) Michala, Michella, Michelle
• (surnames) Michaelsen, Mikkelsen

References

• [3] Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 60 908 males with the given name Michael (compared to 9 297 named Mikael) have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on 19 May, 2011.

French

Alternative forms

• Michaël

Etymology

Borrowed from English Michael.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mi.ka.ɛl/
• IPA^(key): (English-based pronunciation) /maj.kœl/

Proper noun

Michael m

1. a male given name from English of modern usage

German

Etymology

From Vulgate Latin Michaēl, Michahēl, from Biblical Hebrew מיכאל (mikhael, literally “who is like God?”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmɪçaˌeːl/, /-ˌɛl/, [ˈmɪ.çaˌ(ʔ)eːl], [-ˌ(ʔ)ɛl]

• Audio (Austria):

  (file)

• Audio (Germany (Berlin)):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Mi‧cha‧el

Proper noun

Michael m (proper noun, strong, genitive Michaels, feminine Michaela)

1. a male given name of common usage
2. (biblical) Michael the Archangel

Related terms

• Michi
• Michel
• Michue (Swiss; Bern)

Descendants

transliterations of the German given name Michael

• Armenian: Միխայել (Mixayel)
• → Chinese: 米夏埃爾 / 米夏埃尔 (Mǐxià'āi'ěr) (transliteration)
• Georgian: მიხაელ (mixael)
• Greek: Μίχαελ (Míchael)
• Japanese: ミハエル (Mihaeru), ミヒャエル (Mihyaeru)
• Korean: 미하엘 (Miha'el)
• Russian: Михаэ́ль (Mixaélʹ)

Italian

Etymology 1

Borrowed from English Michael.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmaj.kol/
• Rhymes: -ajkol

Proper noun

Michael m or f by sense

1. a male given name and surname in English

Etymology 2

Borrowed from German Michael.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈmi.ka.el/, (careful style) /ˈmi.xa.el/
• Rhymes: -ikael, (careful style) -ixael

Proper noun

Michael m or f by sense

1. a male given name and surname in German

Latin

Alternative forms

• Michāhēl (the spelling used in some Vulgate)
• Michaël (used to signal that ae is not to be read as /e/ in Ecclesiastical pronunciation)

Etymology

From the Koine Greek Μῐχᾱήλ (Mĭkhāḗl), from the Biblical Hebrew מִיכָאֵל (mikha'él, “Michael”, literally “Who is like God?”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [mɪˈkʰaː.eːɫ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [miˈkaː.el]

Proper noun

Michāēl m sg (genitive Michāēlis); third declension

1. a male given name, Michael, from Hebrew
   • ante AD 405, Biblia Vulgata, Num. 13:14:

     De tribu Aser, Sthur, filium Michahel.

     Of the tribe of Asher, Sethur the son of Michael. ― World English Bible translation (Num. 13:13)

2. (biblical) the Archangel Michael
   • ante AD 407, Biblia Vulgata, Dan. 10:13:

     Princeps autem regni Persarum restitit mihi viginti et uno diebus; et, ecce, Michahel, unus de principibus primis, venit in adiutorium meum: et ego remansi ibi iuxta regem Persarum.

     But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; but, behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me: and I remained there with the kings of Persia. ― World English Bible translation

Declension

Indeclinable noun or third-declension noun, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Michāēl
genitive	Michāēl Michāēlis
dative	Michāēl Michāēlī
accusative	Michāēl Michāēlem
ablative	Michāēl Michāēle
vocative	Michāēl

Derived terms

• Michāēlium

Related terms

• Michaeās
• Michās

Descendants

• Albanian: Mëhill
• Italian: Michele
• Old Leonese: Migael
  • Asturian: Miguel
  • Leonese: Micael, Migel
• Old French: Michel
  • French: Michel
• Portuguese: Miguel
• Sicilian: Micheli
• Spanish: Miguel
• → Danish: Michael
• → English: Michael
• → Czech: Michael
• → Finnish: Mikael
• → German: Michael
• → Icelandic: Mikael
• → Irish: Micheál
• → Japanese: ミカエル (Mikaeru)
• → Korean: 미카엘 (Mika'el)
• → Latvian: Miķelis
• → Norwegian: Mikael
• → Polabian: Maixăl
• → Polish: Michał
• → Swedish: Mikael

References

• “Michāēl”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “Michael”, in Gaffiot, Félix (1934), Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.

• “Michael”, in William Smith, editor (1848), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology, London: John Murray

Middle English

Proper noun

Michael

1. alternative form of Michel

Norwegian

Alternative forms

• Mikael

Etymology

From Vulgate Latin Michaēl, Michahēl, from Biblical Hebrew מיכאל (mikhael, “who is like God?”).

Proper noun

Michael

1. a male given name, variant of Mikael

References

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• [4] Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 4192 males with the given name Michael (compared to 2365 named Mikael) living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1980s. Accessed on 19 May, 2011.

Swedish

Alternative forms

• Mikael

Etymology

From Vulgate Latin Michaēl, Michahēl, from Biblical Hebrew מיכאל (mikhael, “who is like God?”). First recorded as a given name in Sweden in the 13th century.

Proper noun

Michael c (genitive Michaels)

1. a male given name, a less common spelling of Mikael

References

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, →ISBN
• [5] Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 38 690 males with the given name Michael (compared to 126 744 named Mikael) living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on May 19th, 2011.