Michael (given name)
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Michael or Micha'el is a given name that comes from Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל / מיכאל, meaning "Who is like God?"; see Theophory in the Bible. There are various forms of the name: Arabic: ميخائيل; Latin: Michael; Septuagint Greek: Μιχαηλ or Mikhaēl; Portuguese or Spanish: Miguel; Russian: Михаил or Mikhail; Italian: Michele; Dutch: Michiel; Armenian: Միքայել or Mikayel.
Michael is a popular name in the United States, and has been the first or second most popular name given to male babies in the U.S. for each year since 1954.[1] It is in the top 50 most popular boys' names in England and Wales.[2] The name has been popular in Orthodox Christian countries, and was borne by several rulers of the Byzantine and Russian Empires. In English it is sometimes shortened to Mike or, especially in Britain, Mick. The name first appears in the Bible, Numbers 13 verse 13, where Sethur the son of Michael is one of twelve spies sent into the Land of Canaan.
The Archangel Michael, referred to later in the Bible (Daniel 12 verse 1), is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church. September 29 is the feast day of the three archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
The female form of Michael is Michelle or Michaela, though there are females with the name of Michael, such as Michael Learned.
Surnames that come from Michael include Mitchell, Micallef and Carmichael.
Short form and other versions
"Mike", "Mick", "Mikiel", "Mikey", "Mic", and "Mickey" are short forms of, or nick-names for, Michael as a given name. "Mick" is commonly associated with Irish people.
Meik and Maik are German short forms of Michael. The German pronunciation of both variants is identical to the English pronunciation of "Mike", since both are directly derived from their English counterpart. Similarly, the Welsh versions "Meical" and "Meic" are pronounced the same way as the English.
In Russian, "Миша" ("Mischa" or "Misha") is the shortened form of Michael.
Maicol is another spelling of "Michael".
"Mick"
Many Irish and Scottish surnames begin with "Mc" or "Mick", as in McDowell, or McShane, from which people from Ireland and Scotland often get the nickname "Mick". (Mc usually means "son of". For instance, the surname McNulty literally means son of Nulty, or — for the Scottish — MacDonald means son of Donald). It is possible that many Irish people are also named after the Irish leader Michael Collins [citation needed], making Michael (Mick) a very common name.
It is sometimes used, usually with a lower-case "m", as an offensive slang term in British English and American English for an Irish person or a Roman Catholic. This is unrelated to the name Michael, however.
The term "mick" is also used as slang in the phrase taking the mickey or "take the mick/mickey" meaning to tease.
Notable European royalty named Michael
- See also: List of people by name: Mic for more names.
Byzantine Emperors
See also List of Byzantine Emperors
- Michael I (811-813)
- Michael II (820-829)
- Michael III (842-867)
- Michael IV the Paphlagonian (1034-1041)
- Michael V (1041-1042)
- Michael VI (1056-1057)
- Michael VII (1067-1078)
- Michael VIII Palaeologus (1259-1282)
Russian rulers
See also List of Russian rulers
- Mikhail of Vladimir (1174 - 1176)
- Mikhail Yaroslavich (1304 - 1318)
- Michael I (1613-1645)
- Mikhail Kutuzov (1745-1813)
- Michael II (1917)
- Mikhail Gorbachev (1985-1991)
King of Poland
See also List of Polish monarchs
Kings of Portugal
See also List of Portuguese monarchs
- Miguel of Portugal (often translated as Michael of Portugal)
Rulers of Romania
See also King of Romania#List of the Kings of the Romanians
- Michael the Brave (Romanian: Mihai Viteazul, Hungarian: Vitéz Mihály); Prince of Wallachia (1593-1601), of Transylvania (1599-1600), and of Moldavia (1600)
- Michael I of Romania
British Royal Family
Popular culture
- Michael (1924 film) directed by Carl Theodor Dreyer
- Michael (1996 film) starring John Travolta
- Michael, a song by Franz Ferdinand (band)
- Michael (Pokémon), hero of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
References
- ^ "SSA: Popular Baby Names" (HTML). Social Security Online. Office of the Chief Actuary of the United States Social Security Administration. 2007-01-04. Retrieved 2007-02-02.
- ^ [1]