Recorded 1915–2025 · United States
Michelle was most popular in 1969, when 34,457 American babies were given the name — ranking #9 that year. In 2025 it ranked #943, with 661 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 819,760 people named Michelle.
Michelle first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1915, which makes it about 110 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 108 of the 111 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 819,760 American births named Michelle between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 768,916 are estimated to be alive today.
661 American babies were named Michelle in 2025, ranking #943 that year.
Michelle is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 766 births a year, against 1,895 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -60% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Michelle is a girl’s name — 99.6% of the 819,760 Americans given it were girls and 0.4% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 768,916 Americans named Michelle are alive today — 94% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 51 years old, and half are between 40 and 58.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
French · feminine of Michel, "who is like God?"
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Michelle on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org