girl's name
Michele
mee-SHEL
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 409,465
Ireland
#397
1997 births
Michele is a girl's name, the single-l spelling of Michelle, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God. The two spellings peaked a year apart, and this one has fallen to 4760th in the United States while Michelle holds 465th.
- Michele is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in 1968, when 11,281 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 118,413 babies in the United States is given this name.
- Michele started out as a boys' name and is now given almost entirely to girls.
- First appears in US birth records in 1905.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Michele over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 5 |
| 1910s | 182 |
| 1920s | 297 |
| 1930s | 386 |
| 1940s | 11,734 |
| 1950s | 42,232 |
| 1960s | 87,530 |
| 1970s | 57,144 |
| 1980s | 17,636 |
| 1990s | 6,224 |
| 2000s | 1,881 |
| 2010s | 603 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 209 |
What Michele means
Michele means who is like God. The Hebrew is a rhetorical question whose implied answer is nobody, so it asserts that God has no equal rather than describing the child.
Where Michele comes from
Michele is Michelle with one l, and both render the French feminine of Michel, from the Hebrew Mikha'el — mi, who, kha, like, el, God. The archangel Michael asks the question as a war cry in Jewish tradition and casts down the dragon in Revelation. The single-l form is closer to the Italian masculine Michele, which is a different name said in three syllables, and that overlap is part of why the spelling never settled. American parents used both forms heavily through the 1960s, and the fork that followed is unusually clean.
Michele in use
Michele peaked in the United States in 1968, when 11,281 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 2445th in France, 4760th in the United States on 28 births and 5646th in England and Wales, across 409,465 lifetime births. The double-l Michelle peaked a year later at 34,457 and still ranks 465th in America — so of the two spellings adopted at almost the same moment, one holds a mainstream position and the other has effectively gone, the same fork Debra and Deborah show.
How popular is Michele?
In 2025, Michele was given to 28 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Michele is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Michele is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Michèle | Michèle is a rare spelling of Michele, written with a grave accent and recorded about 180,285 times, mostly in France. | 180,285 |
Names that peaked alongside Michele
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Michele also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Michele over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Michele
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Michele in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Michele
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Michele — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Michele
What does the name Michele mean?
Who is like God — a rhetorical question whose implied answer is nobody.
Is Michele the same as Michelle?
The same name with one l. But Michelle ranks 465th in America and Michele 4760th, so the two spellings have diverged completely.
Is Michele a boys' name in Italy?
The Italian Michele is masculine and said in three syllables — a different name that shares the spelling.
How popular is Michele?
4760th in the United States on 28 births.
How many syllables are in Michele?
Michele has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Michele?
Michele is usually shortened to Shelly and Mich.
Is Michele a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Michele currently ranks #2,445 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.