Michael Mo

(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.

Chinese 莫: from the name of a place called Mo City (莫), said to have been founded by Zhuan Xu, legendary emperor who lived in the 26th century BC. The current Chinese character for Mo replaces another, rare or obsolete character. Another source of this name was a government post called Mo’ao, which existed during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BC) in the state of Chu. Descendants of a holder of the post adopted the first character of the title as their surname.