Michele
Michele was given to 28 girls in 2025, #4,836 among girls’ names; 226,063 Americans have been recorded with it since 1905 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 197,000 Americans named Michele and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (87% of everyone recorded); the median is 58 years old and half are between 52 and 65.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Michele by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Michele mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Michele is “a female given name from French [in turn from Hebrew], equivalent to English Michelle, anglicized form of French Michèle, a French spelling variant of Michelle.”
Also “a male given name from the Romance languages [in turn from Hebrew], equivalent to English Michael.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Michele?
#4,836 among girls’ names, 2025
Michele fell from #2,877 in 2015 to #4,836 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 34.2 to 17.4 per million.
11,281 babies in 1968, the peak
Michele peaked in 1968, when 11,281 babies were given it (11,219 girls, #29 among girls’ names). The 28 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 28 | #4,836 | 0.02 |
| 2024 | 35 | #4,178 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | 24 | #5,335 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 33 | #4,346 | 0.02 |
| 2021 | 22 | #5,686 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 35 | #4,056 | 0.02 |
| 2019 | 28 | #4,861 | 0.02 |
| 2018 | 31 | #4,527 | 0.02 |
| 2017 | 36 | #4,124 | 0.02 |
| 2016 | 60 | #2,853 | 0.03 |
Every recorded year (111)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 61 | #2,877 | 0.03 |
| 2014 | 48 | #3,354 | 0.03 |
| 2013 | 63 | #2,755 | 0.04 |
| 2012 | 62 | #2,824 | 0.04 |
| 2011 | 58 | #2,979 | 0.03 |
| 2010 | 72 | #2,556 | 0.04 |
| 2009 | 88 | #2,237 | 0.05 |
| 2008 | 98 | #2,090 | 0.05 |
| 2007 | 107 | #1,934 | 0.06 |
| 2006 | 149 | #1,485 | 0.08 |
| 2005 | 147 | #1,449 | 0.08 |
| 2004 | 196 | #1,158 | 0.11 |
| 2003 | 213 | #1,057 | 0.12 |
| 2002 | 207 | #1,039 | 0.12 |
| 2001 | 265 | #864 | 0.15 |
| 2000 | 247 | #890 | 0.14 |
| 1999 | 256 | #844 | 0.14 |
| 1998 | 299 | #732 | 0.17 |
| 1997 | 324 | #672 | 0.19 |
| 1996 | 397 | #579 | 0.23 |
| 1995 | 471 | #516 | 0.27 |
| 1994 | 563 | #453 | 0.32 |
| 1993 | 711 | #359 | 0.39 |
| 1992 | 822 | #329 | 0.45 |
| 1991 | 1,007 | #276 | 0.54 |
| 1990 | 1,164 | #244 | 0.61 |
| 1989 | 1,267 | #214 | 0.69 |
| 1988 | 1,272 | #206 | 0.71 |
| 1987 | 1,310 | #205 | 0.75 |
| 1986 | 1,424 | #188 | 0.83 |
| 1985 | 1,477 | #182 | 0.86 |
| 1984 | 1,692 | #161 | 1.0 |
| 1983 | 1,836 | #155 | 1.1 |
| 1982 | 2,227 | #135 | 1.3 |
| 1981 | 2,271 | #127 | 1.4 |
| 1980 | 2,486 | #126 | 1.5 |
| 1979 | 2,881 | #105 | 1.8 |
| 1978 | 3,484 | #86 | 2.3 |
| 1977 | 3,711 | #77 | 2.4 |
| 1976 | 4,443 | #63 | 3.0 |
| 1975 | 5,033 | #56 | 3.5 |
| 1974 | 5,587 | #50 | 3.8 |
| 1973 | 5,996 | #44 | 4.1 |
| 1972 | 7,380 | #36 | 4.9 |
| 1971 | 7,955 | #39 | 4.8 |
| 1970 | 10,090 | #31 | 5.8 |
| 1969 | 10,556 | #30 | 6.3 |
| 1968 | 11,219 | #29 | 6.8 |
| 1967 | 10,416 | #36 | 6.3 |
| 1966 | 10,689 | #36 | 6.3 |
| 1965 | 8,661 | #48 | 4.9 |
| 1964 | 7,908 | #58 | 4.2 |
| 1963 | 7,512 | #59 | 3.9 |
| 1962 | 7,428 | #59 | 3.8 |
| 1961 | 6,995 | #63 | 3.5 |
| 1960 | 5,609 | #89 | 2.8 |
| 1959 | 5,445 | #89 | 2.7 |
| 1958 | 5,212 | #92 | 2.6 |
| 1957 | 4,746 | #99 | 2.3 |
| 1956 | 4,617 | #100 | 2.3 |
| 1955 | 4,768 | #93 | 2.4 |
| 1954 | 4,763 | #89 | 2.5 |
| 1953 | 3,723 | #102 | 2.0 |
| 1952 | 3,406 | #110 | 1.8 |
| 1951 | 2,793 | #125 | 1.6 |
| 1950 | 2,500 | #128 | 1.5 |
| 1949 | 2,381 | #135 | 1.4 |
| 1948 | 1,799 | #159 | 1.1 |
| 1947 | 1,984 | #148 | 1.1 |
| 1946 | 1,375 | #187 | 0.88 |
| 1945 | 948 | #206 | 0.73 |
| 1944 | 1,159 | #187 | 0.87 |
| 1943 | 958 | #210 | 0.69 |
| 1942 | 728 | #255 | 0.54 |
| 1941 | 172 | #535 | 0.14 |
| 1940 | 102 | #692 | 0.09 |
| 1939 | 57 | #934 | 0.05 |
| 1938 | 53 | #983 | 0.05 |
| 1937 | 46 | #1,058 | 0.04 |
| 1936 | 37 | #1,179 | 0.04 |
| 1935 | 33 | #1,255 | 0.03 |
| 1934 | 22 | #1,637 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 28 | #1,391 | 0.03 |
| 1932 | 27 | #1,477 | 0.03 |
| 1931 | 8 | #3,407 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 6 | #4,394 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 11 | #2,862 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 19 | #1,998 | 0.02 |
| 1927 | 15 | #2,403 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 19 | #2,051 | 0.02 |
| 1925 | 11 | #3,067 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 12 | #2,919 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 12 | #2,861 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 8 | #3,898 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 8 | #3,909 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 7 | #4,273 | 0.01 |
| 1919 | 7 | #4,112 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 9 | #3,428 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 8 | #3,597 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 10 | #2,961 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 5 | #4,751 | 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Michele a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 226,063 Americans recorded as Michele, 99% are girls and 1% boys. In 2025 it went to 28 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Michele: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Michele, and how old are they?
197,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 87% of the 226,063 Americans ever recorded as Michele. The median Michele alive today is 58 years old; half are between 52 and 65.
The 2020 Census counted 199,114 people named Michele (196,261 women and girls, 2,853 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 205,348 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 2,280 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 69,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 102,000 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 19,800 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,990 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 586 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Michele born?
The states with the most babies named Michele are New York, California and Pennsylvania, with 36% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 34,078 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| California | 23,274 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 22,283 | not ranked | 1.8× |
| New Jersey | 15,771 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| Ohio | 12,186 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Illinois | 11,483 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 11,454 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Massachusetts | 6,935 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Texas | 6,319 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Maryland | 5,488 | not ranked | 1.4× |
Where Michele is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Michele is most over-represented in New Jersey: since 1910 it was given 2.2 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Michele with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 1,108,001 babies since 1880, Michele is the second most given (20% of them). In 2025 it was given to 28 of their 1,025 babies (2.7%), the third most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Michele
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Michele and names like it
- Compare Michele and MichelleBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sMichele peaked in 1968.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Michele since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Michele: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1968The year the most babies were named Michele.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Michele alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with MMost given first.