(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.
North German: occupational name for a peddler (see Haack 1).
North German: topographic name for someone who lived by a hedge (see Heck 2).
North German: perhaps also a topographic name from hach, hack ‘dirty, boggy water’.
Frisian, Dutch, and North German: from a Frisian personal name, Hake.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name from Yiddish hak ‘axe’.
English: variant of Hake 1.
FOREBEARS George Hack (c.1623–c.1665) was born in Cologne, Germany, of a Schleswig-Holstein family, and emigrated to New Amsterdam where he practiced medicine and entered the VA tobacco trade. Colony records show that he and his wife, Anna, were formally made naturalized citizens of VA in 1658. He had two daughters, neither of whom married, and two sons: George Nicholas Hack, the founder of the Norfolk branch of the family; and Peter, for many years a member of the VA House of Burgesses, the founder of the Maryland branch. Hack's descendants eventually changed the spelling of the name to Heck.
