(male) English form of a common biblical name (meaning ‘who is like God?’ in Hebrew) borne by one of the archangels, the protector of the ancient Hebrews, who is also regarded as a saint of the Catholic Church. 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. The name is also borne by a Persian prince and ally of Belshazzar mentioned in the Book of Daniel. Since the early 1900s it has been one of the most enduringly popular boys' names in the English-speaking world. See also Michal.
Cognates: Irish: Mícheál. Scottish Gaelic: Mìcheal. Welsh: Meical, Mihangel. German: Michael. Dutch: Michaël, Machiel. Scandinavian: Mikael. Danish, Norwegian: Mikkel. French: Michel. Spanish, Portuguese: Miguel. Catalan: Miquel. Italian: Michele. Russian: Mikhail. Polish: Michał. Czech: Michal. Croatian: Mihovil. Serbian: Mihajlo. Slovenian: Mihael. Finnish: Mikko. Hungarian: Mihály.
Short forms: Mike, Mick.
Pet forms: Mick(e)y, Mikey.
1. English: from the Middle English personal name Hann + the hypocoristic suffix -cok, which was commonly added to personal names (see Cocke).
2. Dutch: from Middle Dutch hanecoc ‘winkle’, ‘periwinkle’ (a type of shellfish), probably a metonymic occupational name for someone who gathered and sold shellfish.
FOREBEARS Thomas Hancock, the uncle of Declaration of Independence signatory John Hancock (1736/7–93), was among the foremost of 18th-century American businessmen. He was a descendant of Nathaniel Hancock, who was known to have been in Cambridge, MA, as early as 1634. Born in Braintree, MA, John Hancock was president of the Second Continental Congress and the first governor of the state of MA.
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