Mechele
A French name possibly a combination of Michael and Helen.
Name Census estimates that about 613 living Americans carry the first name Mechele. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mechele today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mechele births was 1966 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mechele. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
613
~ 1 in 559,142 Americans
Peak year
1966
57 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
1996 SSA rank
#15,002
Tracked since 1947
Census
Mechele in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 708 people with the first name Mechele, which placed it at #16,051 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#16,051
National first-name rank
People counted
708
708 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
65.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mechele
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mechele is White at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Black (21.9%) and Hispanic (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Mechele described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Mechele at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White65.4% · 463
- Black or African American21.9% · 155
- Hispanic or Latino5.1% · 36
- Two or more races4.8% · 34
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 9
Popularity
Mechele: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mechele from the 1940s through to the 1990s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 313 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mechele by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Mechele during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mecheles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Mechele, while Texas, Pennsylvania, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mechele
The name Mechele has its origins in the Latin language, deriving from the name Michal or Michael, which means "who is like God." It can be traced back to the 4th century AD, when it was a relatively common name among early Christian communities in the Mediterranean region.
During the Middle Ages, the name Mechele gained popularity across Europe, particularly in regions with strong Germanic and French influences. Some scholars believe that the spelling variation "Mechele" emerged as a result of the name's evolution through different languages and dialects.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mechele can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and properties in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name is mentioned several times in this historical document, suggesting its use among the Norman nobility of the time.
In religious texts, the name Mechele is associated with the archangel Michael, who is revered in Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. The Book of Revelation in the Bible mentions the archangel Michael leading the heavenly forces against Satan and his fallen angels, further solidifying the name's connection to divine protection and spiritual warfare.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Mechele. One of the earliest was Mechele of Cesena (1270-1342), an Italian Franciscan friar and philosopher who played a significant role in the philosophical debates of his time. Another prominent figure was Mechele Servetus (1511-1553), a Spanish theologian and Renaissance humanist who made important contributions to the study of geography, anatomy, and meteorology.
In the 16th century, Mechele Baius (1513-1589), a Catholic theologian from the Low Countries, gained recognition for his influential theological teachings, which sparked a controversy known as the Baian Controversy within the Catholic Church. A century later, Mechele Montaigne (1533-1592), a French Renaissance philosopher and one of the most significant figures of the French Renaissance, wrote the influential essays that became known as the "Essays of Montaigne."
More recently, Mechele Ferrero (1925-2015), an Italian entrepreneur and the founder of the Ferrero Group, which is known for producing popular confectionery products like Nutella and Ferrero Rocher, made a significant impact in the business world.
People
Mechele + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mechele as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mechele: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mechele?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 613 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mechele going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 559,142 US residents.
Is Mechele a common name?
We classify Mechele as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 722 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mechele most popular?
The single biggest year for Mechele was 1966, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mechele is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mechele in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 708 people with the name Mechele, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,051 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Mechele in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Mechele?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mechele appears almost entirely female. Of the 704 people counted with this name, 99.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Mechele?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mechele is White at 65.4%. The next largest groups are Black (21.9%) and Hispanic (5.1%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Mechele most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mechele in the 2020 Census, accounting for 65.4% (463 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Mechele in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mechele a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mechele in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Mechele still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mechele in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Mechele can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Mechele?
See how many Americans are named Mechele on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.