Michael

Michael m

English and German form of a common biblical name (meaning ‘who is like God?’) borne by one of the archangels, who is also regarded as a saint of the Catholic Church (cf. GABRIEL (SEE Gabriel) and RAPHAEL (SEE Raphael)). In the Middle Ages, Michael was regarded as captain of the heavenly host (see Revelation 12: 7–9), symbol of the Church Militant, and patron of soldiers. He was often depicted bearing a flaming sword. Because of its sanctified warlike connotations, Michael was a popular name among early Christian military leaders, and was borne by eight Byzantine emperors, as well as by the founder (1596–1645) of the Romanov dynasty in Russia. The name is also borne by a Persian prince and ally of Belshazzar mentioned in the Book of Daniel. See also MICHAL (SEE Michal).

Cognates: Irish Gaelic: Mícheál. Scottish Gaelic: Micheal. Welsh: Meical, MIHANGEL (SEE Mihangel). French: Michel. Italian: Michele. Spanish, Portuguese: Miguel. Catalan: Miquel. Basque: Mikel. Romanian: Mihai. Swedish: Mikael. Danish, Norwegian: Mikkel, Mikael. Polish: Michal. Czech: Mich(a)el. Russian: Mikhail. Ukrainian: Mikhailo. Finnish: Mikko. Hungarian: Mihály.

Short forms: English: Mike, MICK (SEE Mick).

Pet forms: English: Micky. Russian: Misha.

Feminine forms: Latinate: Michaela (used in England and Germany); Micaela (used in Italy and Spain). French: Michèle, Michelle. Polish: Michalina.