(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.
English and German: nickname for someone with a deformed hand or who had lost one hand, from Middle English hand, Middle High German hant, found in such appellations as Liebhard mit der Hand (Augsburg 1383).
Jewish (Ashkenazic): nickname from German Hand ‘hand’ (see 1).
Irish: Anglicized form of Gaelic Ó Flaithimh (see Guthrie), resulting from an erroneous association of the Gaelic name with the Gaelic word lámh ‘hand’. It is used as an English equivalent for several other names of Gaelic origin too, e.g. Claffey, Glavin, and McClave.
Dutch: from a variant of hont ‘dog’, ‘hound’, either a derogatory nickname, or a habitational name for someone living at a house distinguished by the sign of a dog.
