Popularity of the name Michelle, 1915–2025
Michelle was at its most popular in 1969, when 34,319 girls were given the name: about 1 in 49 girls born in the U.S. that year, ranking #2. In 2025, 661 girls were named Michelle, ranking #465. In all, Social Security counts 816,510 girls named Michelle since 1915. Social Security’s records also list 3,250 boys named Michelle.
- Peak year
- 1969
- Rank in 1969
- #2
- Babies in 1969
- 34,319
- Rank in 2025
- #465
- Total since 1915
- 816,510
Where it stands now
In the past decade the name slipped from #192 in 2015 to #465 in 2025: 1,706 girls got it in 2015, and 661 in 2025.
Decade by decade
Its best decade was the 1970s, when 249,130 girls were named Michelle, #4 for the decade. It ranked #5,143 in the 1910s and #395 in the 2020s so far.
Every 20 years in the records: 9 in 1920 (#3,340), 92 in 1940 (#726), 9,893 in 1960 (#39), 19,119 in 1980 (#10), 5,545 in 2000 (#52) and 923 in 2020 (#336).
Highs and lows
The most girls given the name in a single year was 34,319, in 1969. Its best rank in any year was #2, first reached in 1968.
Every year
The table lists every year from 1915 to 2025 in which Social Security recorded at least 5 girls named Michelle, with the name’s rank that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1915 | 5 | #4,274 |
| 1918 | 5 | #4,809 |
| 1919 | 7 | #3,817 |
| 1920 | 9 | #3,340 |
| 1922 | 9 | #3,379 |
| 1923 | 6 | #4,376 |
| 1924 | 11 | #2,973 |
| 1925 | 14 | #2,489 |
| 1926 | 11 | #2,872 |
| 1927 | 12 | #2,699 |
| 1928 | 10 | #2,954 |
| 1929 | 15 | #2,191 |
| 1930 | 13 | #2,425 |
| 1931 | 12 | #2,427 |
| 1932 | 10 | #2,831 |
| 1933 | 28 | #1,364 |
| 1934 | 24 | #1,518 |
| 1935 | 27 | #1,418 |
| 1936 | 29 | #1,345 |
| 1937 | 36 | #1,196 |
| 1938 | 55 | #955 |
| 1939 | 59 | #918 |
| 1940 | 92 | #726 |
| 1941 | 133 | #612 |
| 1942 | 233 | #482 |
| 1943 | 370 | #373 |
| 1944 | 405 | #341 |
| 1945 | 499 | #307 |
| 1946 | 755 | #263 |
| 1947 | 914 | #248 |
| 1948 | 1,044 | #230 |
| 1949 | 1,248 | #213 |
| 1950 | 1,633 | #174 |
| 1951 | 2,133 | #151 |
| 1952 | 2,881 | #124 |
| 1953 | 3,631 | #107 |
| 1954 | 4,432 | #94 |
| 1955 | 4,526 | #97 |
| 1956 | 5,327 | #88 |
| 1957 | 5,982 | #79 |
| 1958 | 7,458 | #56 |
| 1959 | 8,776 | #47 |
| 1960 | 9,893 | #39 |
| 1961 | 12,741 | #34 |
| 1962 | 13,353 | #31 |
| 1963 | 14,383 | #26 |
| 1964 | 16,180 | #23 |
| 1965 | 16,215 | #18 |
| 1966 | 27,159 | #4 |
| 1967 | 30,827 | #3 |
| 1968 | 33,223 | #2 |
| 1969 | 34,319 | #2 |
| 1970 | 34,047 | #4 |
| 1971 | 33,160 | #2 |
| 1972 | 29,285 | #2 |
| 1973 | 26,935 | #3 |
| 1974 | 25,826 | #3 |
| 1975 | 22,665 | #6 |
| 1976 | 19,550 | #6 |
| 1977 | 19,540 | #7 |
| 1978 | 18,856 | #9 |
| 1979 | 19,266 | #10 |
| 1980 | 19,119 | #10 |
| 1981 | 17,781 | #11 |
| 1982 | 17,765 | #11 |
| 1983 | 16,838 | #13 |
| 1984 | 15,499 | #17 |
| 1985 | 13,973 | #22 |
| 1986 | 13,303 | #23 |
| 1987 | 13,034 | #21 |
| 1988 | 13,339 | #21 |
| 1989 | 13,376 | #22 |
| 1990 | 13,425 | #22 |
| 1991 | 12,213 | #22 |
| 1992 | 11,512 | #25 |
| 1993 | 10,193 | #31 |
| 1994 | 8,639 | #33 |
| 1995 | 7,392 | #41 |
| 1996 | 6,598 | #47 |
| 1997 | 5,695 | #55 |
| 1998 | 5,562 | #55 |
| 1999 | 5,303 | #56 |
| 2000 | 5,545 | #52 |
| 2001 | 5,033 | #59 |
| 2002 | 4,950 | #58 |
| 2003 | 4,873 | #62 |
| 2004 | 4,720 | #66 |
| 2005 | 4,312 | #74 |
| 2006 | 4,090 | #81 |
| 2007 | 3,596 | #94 |
| 2008 | 3,343 | #101 |
| 2009 | 3,078 | #104 |
| 2010 | 2,510 | #125 |
| 2011 | 2,180 | #144 |
| 2012 | 1,935 | #162 |
| 2013 | 1,892 | #168 |
| 2014 | 1,751 | #188 |
| 2015 | 1,706 | #192 |
| 2016 | 1,562 | #209 |
| 2017 | 1,429 | #215 |
| 2018 | 1,249 | #263 |
| 2019 | 1,144 | #292 |
| 2020 | 923 | #336 |
| 2021 | 799 | #394 |
| 2022 | 827 | #377 |
| 2023 | 766 | #401 |
| 2024 | 775 | #409 |
| 2025 | 661 | #465 |
How these numbers are counted
Social Security publishes, for every year since 1880, how many babies of each sex were given each name, counting any name given to at least 5. A name’s rank is its place that year among names for the same sex, by number of babies. Names with the same count share a rank here, while Social Security’s own lists break ties alphabetically, so a rank can differ from theirs by a place or two. A name’s share is the number of babies given it divided by all babies of that sex in the data that year, and its peak is the year that share was highest. Shares rather than counts set the peak, because far more babies were born in some years than others: counting babies alone would pull nearly every name’s peak toward the 1946–1964 baby boom.
Source: the U.S. Social Security Administration’s national baby name data, from Social Security card applications for babies born in the U.S. A name is left out of a year when fewer than 5 babies of one sex got it, and counts before about 1937 are incomplete, because many people born then never applied for a card. See how Baby Boom builds its data. Figures may contain errors.