US baby names · Boys · 1880–2025
Michael: name popularity by year
How often US parents chose Michael for a baby boy, year by year, from Social Security Administration records. When it peaked, how long it stayed in the top 10, and which generation it belongs to.
Michael was one of the 10 most common boys' names in the US in 74 years, between 1943 and 2016, and the #1 name in 44 of them. Births peaked in 1957, when 92,781 baby boys were named Michael, so by peak year it is a Baby Boomers name.
Michael in the US top 10, by year
Rank among boys' names, #1 at the top. Blank years: outside the top 10. Dashed line: the year with the most babies named Michael (1957).
Top-10 years by generation
| Generation | Years in top 10 | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 3 (1943–1945) | #9 |
| Baby Boomers | 19 (1946–1964) | #1 |
| Generation X | 16 (1965–1980) | #1 |
| Millennials | 16 (1981–1996) | #1 |
| Generation Z | 13 (1997–2009) | #1 |
| Generation Alpha | 7 (2010–2016) | #3 |
Every top-10 year
Questions people ask
When was the name Michael most popular?
By number of babies, in 1957, when 92,781 boys were given the name. By rank, it was #1 in 44 years and spent 74 years in the top 10.
What generation is the name Michael?
Its peak year, 1957, falls in Baby Boomers (1946–1964). Its 74 top-10 years fall in: Silent Generation (3), Baby Boomers (19), Generation X (16), Millennials (16), Generation Z (13), Generation Alpha (7).
How many people have been named Michael?
SSA counted 4,426,753 boys named Michael born from 1880 to 2025. That is births, not people alive today, and it misses many people born before 1937 who never applied for a Social Security card.
In the top 10 at the same time
Source: US Social Security Administration baby-name data, from Social Security card applications for births in the 50 states and the District of Columbia, 1880–2025. Many people born before 1937 never applied for a card, so early years undercount. Spellings are counted separately. We hold each year's top 10 in rank order and each name's peak-year and all-time counts, so the chart shows rank rather than births per year. This page gives no meaning or origin for the name and no estimate of how many people named Michael are alive today.