(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.
Chinese 马: from an honorific title borne by a prince of the state of Zhao during the Warring States period (403–221 BC). He was awarded the title Noble Ma Fu after repeatedly distinguishing himself as a general, and subsequently, his descendants adopted part of the honorific title, Ma, as their surname.
Korean: there are two Chinese characters for the surname Ma, only one of which is frequent enough to be treated here. Two clans use this character: the Mokch'ŏn clan and the Changhŭng clan. The founding ancestor of the Korean Mokch'ŏn Ma clan migrated to Korea from China during the Han Commanderies period (1st century BC). The Ma clans played fairly important roles in the formation of the pre-Shilla Paekche kingdom. The records are not consistent, but it seems that originally the Ma surname was Yŏng and that either the Koryŏking T'aejo (941–943) or the Shilla king Kyŏngsun (927–935) changed the name to Ma.
Cambodian: unexplained.
Hawaiian: unexplained.
Tongan: unexplained.
