(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.
German: from Middle High German rīs ‘undergrowth’, ‘brushwood’; a topographic name for someone who lived in an overgrown area, or a habitational name from Reis or Reissen in Bavaria, named with this word.
German: occupational name for a cobbler, Middle High German riuze. Compare Reuss.
German: variant of Reiss 2, or from the Huguenot name Ris.
Altered spelling of German Ries.
Portuguese and Galician: from a short form of dos Reis ‘(of) the (Three) Kings’, a personal name popularly bestowed on someone born on the feast of the Epiphany, which celebrates the manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles as represented by the Magi. This is a frequent family name in southern Portugal.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): metonymic occupational name for a dealer in rice or an ornamental name from German Reis ‘rice’.
Jewish (Ashkenazic): ornamental name from German Reis ‘twig’, ‘branch’.
Turkish: from reis ‘boss’, ‘chief’, ‘head of a business enterprise’. A Greek derivative of this is also found as a surname, in the form Reizis.
