Micole
French variation of the ancient name Nicole, meaning "victory of the people".
Name Census estimates that about 539 living Americans carry the first name Micole. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Micole today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Micole births was 1988 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Micole. 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
539
~ 1 in 635,908 Americans
Peak year
1988
39 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2005 SSA rank
#18,284
Tracked since 1968
Census
Micole in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 571 people with the first name Micole, which placed it at #18,776 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
#18,776
National first-name rank
People counted
571
571 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
41.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Micole
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Micole is Black at 41.5%. The next largest groups are White (33.8%) and Hispanic (10.9%). 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 Micole 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 Micole at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American41.5% · 237
- White33.8% · 193
- Hispanic or Latino10.9% · 62
- Two or more races7.5% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 29
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 7
Popularity
Micole: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Micole from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 251 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Micole 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 Micole during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Micoles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Illinois, Georgia recorded the most babies named Micole, while New York, Maryland, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Micole
The given name Micole has its origins in the ancient Greek language, tracing back to the Hellenic era around the 5th century BCE. It is believed to be a variant or diminutive form of the Greek name Nikolas, which means "victory of the people." The root "niko" comes from the Greek word "nike," meaning victory, while "laos" translates to people or populace.
Micole was not a particularly common name in ancient Greek texts or historical records, but it did appear occasionally as a feminine form of the more widely used masculine name Nikolas. One of the earliest known references to Micole can be found in a collection of inscriptions from the island of Delos, dating back to the 2nd century BCE.
During the Byzantine era, which lasted from the 4th to the 15th century CE, the name Micole gained some popularity among Greek-speaking Christian communities. It is recorded in several church registers and ecclesiastical documents from this period, often associated with women of notable families or those who held positions of influence within the Church.
In the 12th century, a renowned Byzantine scholar and theologian named Micole Akominatos (1140-1220) wrote extensively on various philosophical and religious topics, contributing to the intellectual discourse of his time. His works were widely studied and helped to maintain the legacy of the name Micole within the Byzantine Empire.
Another notable figure associated with the name was Micole of Otranto (1355-1366), a young Italian girl who was martyred at the age of 11 during the Ottoman invasion of Otranto in 1480. Her story of bravery and faith in the face of persecution became a significant part of local folklore and religious tradition, further cementing the name's significance in the region.
In the 16th century, a Greek-born Italian painter named Micole Gasparo (1537-1602) gained recognition for her works depicting religious scenes and portraits. Her art can be found in various churches and museums across Italy, showcasing the continued use of the name Micole among the Greek diaspora during the Renaissance period.
While the name Micole has not achieved widespread popularity in modern times, it remains a unique and historically significant name with deep roots in Greek culture and Byzantine history. Its enduring presence, although relatively rare, serves as a testament to the rich tapestry of names that have endured through the ages.
People
Micole + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Micole 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
Micole: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Micole?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 539 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Micole 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 635,908 US residents.
Is Micole a common name?
We classify Micole as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 577 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Micole most popular?
The single biggest year for Micole was 1988, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Micole is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Micole in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 571 people with the name Micole, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,776 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 Micole 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 Micole?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Micole leans strongly female. 505 people counted with this name were female (88.8%), compared with 64 male bearers (11.2%). 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 Micole?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Micole is Black at 41.5%. The next largest groups are White (33.8%) and Hispanic (10.9%). 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 Micole most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Micole in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.5% (237 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 Micole in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Micole a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Micole 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 Micole still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Micole 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 Micole 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 Americans are named Micole?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Micole at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.