girl's name
Michelle
mee-SHEL
- Origin French
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 8
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 986,707
the United States
#465
2025 births
Michelle is a girl's name, the French feminine of Michel, from a Hebrew question meaning who is like God. It charts in all seven markets we track, and its 1969 peak sits four years after the Beatles song that carries its name.
- Michelle is a name of French origin.
- Peaked in 1969, when 34,457 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 5,016 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1915.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Michelle over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 17 |
| 1920s | 97 |
| 1930s | 293 |
| 1940s | 5,714 |
| 1950s | 46,896 |
| 1960s | 209,009 |
| 1970s | 250,202 |
| 1980s | 154,839 |
| 1990s | 86,887 |
| 2000s | 43,678 |
| 2010s | 17,377 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 4,751 |
What Michelle means
Michelle means who is like God. The Hebrew original is a rhetorical question rather than a statement, so the implied answer is nobody — it asserts God's incomparability rather than the bearer's likeness to God.
Where Michelle comes from
Michelle is the French feminine of Michel, from the Hebrew Mikha'el — mi, who, kha, like, el, God. It is a question, and one asked in the Book of Revelation by the archangel Michael as he casts down the dragon, which is why the name is a challenge rather than a description. French formed the feminine early and English borrowed it wholesale in the twentieth century rather than deriving its own from Michael. Both the single-l Michele and the double-l Michelle are in use, the doubled form being far more common in English.
Michelle in use
Michelle peaked in the United States in 1969, when 34,457 babies were registered — four years after the Beatles released Michelle on Rubber Soul in December 1965, a lag our year-by-year series makes visible. It charts in all seven markets: 272nd in Scotland, 321st in Ireland, 350th in England and Wales on 124 births, 465th in the United States on 661, 508th in Northern Ireland and 1090th in France, across 986,707 lifetime births.
How popular is Michelle?
In 2025, Michelle was given to 661 babies in the United States, ranking #465 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Michelle 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 Michelle is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Michèlle | Michèlle is a rare spelling of Michelle, written with a grave accent and recorded about 15 times, mostly in France. | 15 |
Names that peaked alongside Michelle
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Michelle also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Michelle over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Michelle
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.
Michelle 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 Michelle
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Michelle — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Michelle
What does the name Michelle mean?
Who is like God — a rhetorical question whose implied answer is nobody.
Is Michelle the feminine of Michael?
Of Michel, the French form. English borrowed the French feminine rather than making its own from Michael.
Did the Beatles song make Michelle popular?
The song came out in December 1965 and the name peaked in 1969, so the rise follows it — though the name was already climbing.
How popular is Michelle?
465th in the United States and 350th in England and Wales. It charts in all six markets we track.
Is Michelle a girl's or a boy's name?
Michelle is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Michelle?
Michelle has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Michelle?
Michelle is usually shortened to Shelly and Mich.
Is Michelle a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Michelle currently ranks #272 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.