Michel
About Michel
While the (male) French form is pronounced in English like the girls' name Michelle and the German form had a hard k-like sound in the middle, this variation of Michael is distinguished by being used evenly for girls and boys in the U.S. For either gender, though, pronunciation issues will dominate.
Pronounced mih-SHEL.
As of October 2026, Michel ranked #4642 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #458 in 1957.
Editor: Sophie Kihm
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #3,978 | 26 | 13.5 |
| 2015 | #2,896 | 41 | 21.4 |
| 2016 | #4,882 | 20 | 10.5 |
| 2017 | #3,641 | 30 | 16.2 |
| 2018 | #3,955 | 27 | 14.9 |
| 2019 | #4,067 | 26 | 14.5 |
| 2020 | #3,988 | 26 | 15.1 |
| 2021 | #4,189 | 25 | 14.3 |
| 2022 | #4,530 | 23 | 13.2 |
| 2023 | #4,077 | 27 | 15.8 |
| 2024 | #3,651 | 31 | 18 |
| 2025 | #4,642 | 22 | 12.9 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Michel.
- Leano
- Yanai
- Salman
- Avraham
- Daoud
- Gregorio
- Patrice
- Christophe
- Abijah
- Silvestro
- Lindbergh
- Duarte
- Yakov
- Haroun
- Maximilliano
- Angaros
- Ganesh
- Arnau
- Morten
- Armen
Michel on lists
Famous Michels
- Michel Mulder
Dutch speed skater
- Michel Henry
French philosopher and novelist
- Michel de Nostredame "Nostradamus"
a French physician and seer who predicted many events that later occurred, such as World War II
Michel in pop culture
- Michel Gerard
French man who works at Lorelai and Sookie's inns in TV's "Gilmore Girls"