Girls' name · since 1915
Michelle
816,510 babies named Michelle in U.S. Social Security records since 1915, with the highest year being 1969. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
- #25 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #465 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 816,510
- born since 1915
- 1970s
- peak decade
Michelle currently ranks #465 among girls' names in America, with 816,510 babies recorded since 1915.
Michelle has 816,510 recorded births among girls since 1915, per the U.S. Social Security Administration, ranked #465 as of the latest data, more common than 97% of girls, busiest in the 1970s -- see the year-by-year trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution below, all drawn directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1915 to 2025.
- #25 of 72,339 all-time among girls
- #465 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
- 816,510 born since 1915
- 1970s peak decade
Data updated Aug 2026
The verdict
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Michelle ranks #25 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #465 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 816,510 born since 1915, peaking in the 1970s.
- #25 of 72,339
- all-time among girls
- #465 of 17,297
- 2025 SSA year
- 816,510
- born since 1915
- 1970s
- peak decade
Michelle's 816,510 recorded births place it above 99.96% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.
51 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by California.
How Michelle compares
816,510 Top 1% higher than 99% of 17,297 names currently given to girls
Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.
Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data
How the numbers stack up
Michelle's all-time total is 2,172x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.
| Metric | Michelle | Median girls name (Kyann) | #1 girls name (Olivia) |
|---|---|---|---|
| All-time total births | 816,510 | 376 | 567,345 |
| Peak-year births | 34,319 | 21 | 19,840 |
Michelle's usage pattern, beyond the headline number
Splitting Michelle's full recorded timeline at 1972, 60% of its total births fall in the more recent half of the record versus 40% in the earlier half -- usage has skewed toward the present, not a one-decade spike. Its quietest year on record was 1915, with just 5 recorded births -- worth weighing against the 1969 peak of 34,319 to see the full range of the name's swing in popularity.
Michelle popularity over time - girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1915–2025
- Peak year (1969)
- 34,319
- Annual births at peak, across 111 years of records
Michelle popularity over time - boys
3,250 total births recorded since 1946 (Michelle as boys' name)
Michelle by decade
1970s is the heaviest window (249,130 births, 31% of the file).
1970s was Michelle's strongest decade.
249,130 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 31% of all-time use.
Michelle births by decade
Total births in each ten-year window
- 1910s 17
1910s
17 births
- 1920s 97
1920s
97 births
- 1930s 293
1930s
293 births
- 1940s 5,693
1940s
5,693 births
- 1950s 46,779
1950s
46,779 births
- 1960s
1960s
208,293 births
- 1970s
1970s
249,130 births
- 1980s
1980s
154,027 births
- 1990s 86,532
1990s
86,532 births
- 2000s 43,540
2000s
43,540 births
- 2010s 17,358
2010s
17,358 births
- 2020s 4,751
2020s
4,751 births
What this shows Peak: 1970s at 249,130 births (31% of all-time use).
How Michelle compares to similarly-sized names
Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Michelle's total volume
Michelle by state
Where Michelle concentrates geographically, total births since 1915
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | California | | 114,585 | 14.0% |
| #2 | New York | | 69,560 | 8.5% |
| #3 | Texas | | 49,169 | 6.0% |
| #4 | Illinois | | 47,679 | 5.8% |
| #5 | Ohio | | 44,182 | 5.4% |
| #6 | Pennsylvania | | 40,105 | 4.9% |
| #7 | Michigan | | 39,696 | 4.9% |
| #8 | Florida | | 29,800 | 3.6% |
114,585 of 816,510 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Michelle appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
How popular is the name Michelle? ▼
Where does Michelle sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
When was Michelle most popular? ▼
Where is Michelle most popular? ▼
How long has the name Michelle been used? ▼
What names are similar to Michelle? ▼
What to do with Michelle's data
- Michelle's decade-level peak was the 1970s (249,130 total births); usage has since declined to 4,751 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
- California records the most Michelles (114,585 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. California names
Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.
Keep exploring Michelle
Nearby Names Like Michelle
Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Michelle
Compare Michelle side by side: Michelle vs Michele Michelle vs Michaela Michelle vs Michael
Related Names
Names with a similar popularity rank to Michelle
Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span
Two nationwide peer axes for Michelle: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.
Similar peak year (~1969)
Similar record span (~110 yrs)
Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.
Data Sources
Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1915–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).
Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Michelle draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.