Michaela
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Meaning
feminine form of Michael, meaning 'who is like God?'
The story
Michaela is the feminine of Michael, keeping the old rhetorical question who is like God? in a form European languages have polished for centuries. Trace-level American use runs from the 1930s, and January 1993 brought Jane Seymour to television as Dr. Michaela Quinn, frontier physician; the name's strongest band runs from the 1990s through the 2010s. The television spelling also seeded a phonetic swarm, Makayla, Mikayla, McKayla and more, that soon outnumbered the original several times over, so Michaela today serves as the etymological anchor of a family mostly spelled by ear. It has eased only recently, and the frontier-doctor register still clings to it, capable hands and a steady gaze. The original spelling keeps the etymology visible where the phonetic versions let it go, which is the difference between a family's anchor and its echoes.
Michaela across languages
One shared root links 16 names across 6 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Mikha’el, "who is like God?" The question expresses that nobody is God’s equal; Michael is a biblical angel
The constellation
10 more branches of this family
How popular is Michaela around the world?
In the United States, 2,649 babies were named Michaela between 2020 and 2025. In Ireland, 15 girls named Michaela were born in 2025, the 273rd most common name among girls that year.
Michaela is on the official records of the United States, Ireland, South Australia, Canada, Scotland, Austria, England and Wales, Chile, Poland, Spain, France, Brazil and Argentina.
United States
1 in 8,200
In the United States, 2,649 babies were named Michaela between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Michaela peaked in the 1990s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Ireland
1 in 3,600
In Ireland, 15 girls named Michaela were born in 2025, the 273rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
South Australia
1 in 4,6002017
In South Australia, 4 girls were registered as Michaela in 2017.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Canada
1 in 6,600
In Canada, 55 girls named Michaela were born in 2024, the 536th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Scotland
1 in 9,200
In Scotland, 5 girls named Michaela were registered in 2024, the 541st most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Austria
1 in 9,500
In Austria, 8 girls named Michaela were born in 2025, the 566th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
England and Wales
1 in 12,000
In England and Wales, 49 girls named Michaela were born in 2025, the 747th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Chile
1 in 59,000
In Chile, 3 girls were registered as Michaela in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Poland
1 in 62,000
In Poland, 4 girls named Michaela were born in 2025, the 498th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Spain
1 in 92,000
In Spain, 485 residents are named Michaela, ranked 2,332nd among women, with a mean age of 42.5 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
France
1 in 130,000
In France, about 5 girls named Michaela were born in 2025, ranked 5,803rd among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Brazil
1 in 140,000
At the 2022 census, 1,423 people in Brazil were named Michaela, ranked 6,501st, with a median age of 21.
Among people named Michaela living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 90 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Argentina
1 in 330,000
In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Michaela in 2024.
The count never rose above 8 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Mexico City City
last on record 2021
Michaela is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Montevideo City
last on record 2005
Michaela is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
New Zealand
last on record 2024
Michaela is not on the 2025 record for New Zealand, where names under 10 in a year are excluded at source.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Norway
last on record 2017
Michaela is not on the 2025 record for Norway, where names carried by fewer than 4 people in a year are withheld at source.
share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
When you meet Michaela
Most people given the name Michaela in the United States were born between 1990 and 2009. The Michaela you meet today is most often in her 20s or 30s.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Michaela deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Michaela truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Michaela fits with your family’s names and surname.
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