Meaning not yet researched.
Michelle: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 661 in 2025. Its best rank was #2 in 1972.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #2 in 1972; #465 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Michelle in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#465 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1972, at #2.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Michelle: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 661 girls in 2025. Peak: #2 in 1972 · most girls in one year: 34,319 (1969).
In 2025, 661 US girls were named Michelle, making it the 465th most common girls’ name of the year, down 56 places from #409 in 2024. That is 114 fewer than the 775 girls named Michelle in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #2, reached in 1972. The most girls given the name in a single year was 34,319, in 1969. For comparison, it was #192 in 2015 and #174 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Michelle in 108 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1915 with 5 babies. In all, 819,760 US babies have been given the name, 99.6% of them girls and 0.4% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1970s, with 250,202 babies named Michelle.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 10,135 US girls were named Michelle; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 1,562. In 2025 that was about 1 in 2,432 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Michelle ranked highest in New Jersey in 2025, at #249 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Michele (226,063 babies since 1880), Michaela (53,702 babies since 1880), Mikaela (20,719 babies since 1880) and Micaela (14,983 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Mechele, Mychelle and Mechell are summarised on this page. The open nickname list we use links it to Chelle, Mickey, Shelley, Shellie, Shelly and Shely.
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in Dutch, English and French. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Mechele (722), Mychelle (656), Mechell (481), Miguelina (267), Michalina (205), Michole (142), Michille (132), Micheale (99), Mihaela (92), Mechille (69), Mychele (57), Michealle (51), and more.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 20 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Jersey | 33 | #249 | #118 |
| Illinois | 38 | #285 | #170 |
| New York | 56 | #302 | #115 |
| California | 108 | #302 | #107 |
| Nevada | 8 | #362 | #351 |
| New Mexico | 5 | #363 | #267 |
| Connecticut | 8 | #376 | #248 |
| Florida | 49 | #379 | #173 |
| Washington | 19 | #385 | #226 |
| Maryland | 13 | #413 | #123 |
| Georgia | 27 | #425 | #206 |
| Virginia | 19 | #426 | #216 |
| Kansas | 8 | #435 | #287 |
| Oregon | 8 | #467 | #372 |
| North Carolina | 22 | #504 | #282 |
| Texas | 64 | #504 | #130 |
| Oklahoma | 8 | #531 | #261 |
| Alabama | 9 | #566 | #409 |
| Indiana | 12 | #568 | #383 |
| Utah | 7 | #586 | #288 |
| Tennessee | 13 | #594 | #295 |
| Pennsylvania | 17 | #610 | #369 |
| Arizona | 11 | #617 | #149 |
| Michigan | 13 | #627 | #436 |
| Ohio | 16 | #634 | #411 |
| Kentucky | 6 | #720 | #830 |
| South Carolina | 5 | #876 | #382 |
| Wisconsin | 5 | #883 | #664 |
| Missouri | 6 | #890 | #490 |
| Minnesota | 5 | #953 | #461 |
| Colorado | 5 | #1,006 | #320 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 661 | #465 | — | — |
| 2024 | 775 | #409 | — | — |
| 2023 | 766 | #401 | — | — |
| 2022 | 827 | #377 | — | — |
| 2021 | 799 | #395 | — | — |
| 2020 | 923 | #336 | — | — |
| 2019 | 1,144 | #292 | — | — |
| 2018 | 1,249 | #263 | — | — |
| 2017 | 1,429 | #217 | — | — |
| 2016 | 1,562 | #209 | — | — |
| 2015 | 1,706 | #192 | — | — |
| 2014 | 1,751 | #188 | — | — |
| 2013 | 1,892 | #168 | — | — |
| 2012 | 1,935 | #162 | — | — |
| 2011 | 2,180 | #144 | 10 | #7,895 |
| 2010 | 2,510 | #125 | 9 | #8,569 |
| 2009 | 3,078 | #104 | 6 | #11,968 |
| 2008 | 3,343 | #101 | 11 | #7,547 |
| 2007 | 3,596 | #94 | 8 | #9,458 |
| 2006 | 4,090 | #81 | 11 | #7,264 |
| 2005 | 4,312 | #74 | 11 | #6,952 |
| 2004 | 4,720 | #66 | 16 | #5,175 |
| 2003 | 4,873 | #62 | 15 | #5,189 |
| 2002 | 4,950 | #58 | 17 | #4,638 |
| 2001 | 5,033 | #59 | 19 | #4,234 |
| 2000 | 5,545 | #52 | 24 | #3,495 |
| 1999 | 5,303 | #56 | 15 | #4,692 |
| 1998 | 5,562 | #55 | 17 | #4,131 |
| 1997 | 5,695 | #55 | 20 | #3,547 |
| 1996 | 6,598 | #47 | 31 | #2,518 |
| 1995 | 7,392 | #41 | 35 | #2,281 |
| 1994 | 8,639 | #33 | 35 | #2,284 |
| 1993 | 10,193 | #31 | 49 | #1,760 |
| 1992 | 11,512 | #25 | 43 | #1,898 |
| 1991 | 12,213 | #22 | 54 | #1,584 |
| 1990 | 13,425 | #22 | 56 | #1,526 |
| 1989 | 13,376 | #22 | 92 | #1,108 |
| 1988 | 13,339 | #21 | 60 | #1,334 |
| 1987 | 13,034 | #21 | 74 | #1,121 |
| 1986 | 13,303 | #23 | 81 | #1,034 |
| 1985 | 13,973 | #22 | 68 | #1,132 |
| 1984 | 15,499 | #17 | 79 | #1,006 |
| 1983 | 16,838 | #13 | 82 | #976 |
| 1982 | 17,765 | #11 | 80 | #1,017 |
| 1981 | 17,781 | #11 | 96 | #918 |
| 1980 | 19,119 | #10 | 100 | #897 |
| 1979 | 19,266 | #10 | 75 | #1,025 |
| 1978 | 18,856 | #9 | 84 | #949 |
| 1977 | 19,540 | #7 | 82 | #948 |
| 1976 | 19,550 | #6 | 83 | #919 |
| 1975 | 22,665 | #6 | 113 | #781 |
| 1974 | 25,826 | #3 | 109 | #773 |
| 1973 | 26,935 | #3 | 116 | #747 |
| 1972 | 29,285 | #2 | 135 | #690 |
| 1971 | 33,160 | #2 | 150 | #677 |
| 1970 | 34,047 | #4 | 125 | #735 |
| 1969 | 34,319 | #2 | 138 | #675 |
| 1968 | 33,223 | #2 | 130 | #662 |
| 1967 | 30,827 | #3 | 110 | #708 |
| 1966 | 27,159 | #4 | 93 | #760 |
| 1965 | 16,215 | #18 | 53 | #1,015 |
| 1964 | 16,180 | #23 | 43 | #1,184 |
| 1963 | 14,383 | #26 | 45 | #1,158 |
| 1962 | 13,353 | #31 | 34 | #1,357 |
| 1961 | 12,741 | #34 | 41 | #1,243 |
| 1960 | 9,893 | #39 | 29 | #1,511 |
| 1959 | 8,776 | #47 | 17 | #2,019 |
| 1958 | 7,458 | #56 | 20 | #1,821 |
| 1957 | 5,982 | #79 | 16 | #2,069 |
| 1956 | 5,327 | #88 | 15 | #2,146 |
| 1955 | 4,526 | #97 | 12 | #2,395 |
| 1954 | 4,432 | #94 | 11 | #2,554 |
| 1953 | 3,631 | #107 | 9 | #2,842 |
| 1952 | 2,881 | #124 | 7 | #3,285 |
| 1951 | 2,133 | #151 | 10 | #2,602 |
| 1950 | 1,633 | #174 | — | — |
| 1949 | 1,248 | #213 | 6 | #3,577 |
| 1948 | 1,044 | #230 | 5 | #4,015 |
| 1947 | 914 | #248 | 5 | #4,085 |
| 1946 | 755 | #263 | 5 | #3,849 |
| 1945 | 499 | #307 | — | — |
| 1944 | 405 | #341 | — | — |
| 1943 | 370 | #375 | — | — |
| 1942 | 233 | #483 | — | — |
| 1941 | 133 | #612 | — | — |
| 1940 | 92 | #728 | — | — |
| 1939 | 59 | #921 | — | — |
| 1938 | 55 | #963 | — | — |
| 1937 | 36 | #1,217 | — | — |
| 1936 | 29 | #1,367 | — | — |
| 1935 | 27 | #1,435 | — | — |
| 1934 | 24 | #1,536 | — | — |
| 1933 | 28 | #1,392 | — | — |
| 1932 | 10 | #2,979 | — | — |
| 1931 | 12 | #2,529 | — | — |
| 1930 | 13 | #2,514 | — | — |
| 1929 | 15 | #2,269 | — | — |
| 1928 | 10 | #3,092 | — | — |
| 1927 | 12 | #2,805 | — | — |
| 1926 | 11 | #2,989 | — | — |
| 1925 | 14 | #2,572 | — | — |
| 1924 | 11 | #3,094 | — | — |
| 1923 | 6 | #4,787 | — | — |
| 1922 | 9 | #3,578 | — | — |
| 1920 | 9 | #3,522 | — | — |
| 1919 | 7 | #4,115 | — | — |
| 1918 | 5 | #5,344 | — | — |
| 1915 | 5 | #4,754 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).