Mikala
Scandinavian feminine name related to "Michael", meaning "gift of God".
Name Census estimates that about 3,902 living Americans carry the first name Mikala. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mikala today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mikala births was 1995 (329 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mikala. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Mikala with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.9K
~ 1 in 87,841 Americans
Peak year
1995
329 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
1997 SSA rank
#10,274
Tracked since 1967
Census
Mikala in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,822 people with the first name Mikala, which placed it at #4,754 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
#4,754
National first-name rank
People counted
3.8K
3,822 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mikala
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mikala is White at 62.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.3%) and Hispanic (9.5%). 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 Mikala 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 Mikala at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.2% · 2,379
- Black or African American17.3% · 662
- Hispanic or Latino9.5% · 365
- Two or more races8.0% · 304
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.0% · 76
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 36
Gender
Gender distribution for Mikala
Out of the 4,018 babies given the name Mikala since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Mikala as a male name
- Ranked #10,274 in 1997
- 5 male births in 1997
- Peak: 1995 (5 births)
Mikala as a female name
- Ranked #16,797 in 2023
- 5 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1995 (324 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mikala leans strongly female. 3,770 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 51 male bearers (1.3%).
Popularity
Mikala: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mikala from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 2,113 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mikala 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 Mikala during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mikalas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 33 states and territories. California, Texas, Ohio recorded the most babies named Mikala, while Mississippi, Alabama, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 70 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mikala
The name Mikala has its origins in the Scandinavian languages, deriving from the Old Norse name Mikjáll. This name can be traced back to the 9th century and is a combination of the elements "mikill" meaning "great" and "áll" meaning "all" or "entire." The name's meaning is often interpreted as "great entirety" or "great all."
In the early medieval period, the name Mikala was particularly prevalent in Iceland, Norway, and other Nordic regions. It was frequently adopted by families of Norse descent, reflecting their cultural heritage and values. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in ancient Icelandic sagas and Norse chronicles from the 10th and 11th centuries.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Mikala was Mikala Gíslason (1092-1148), an Icelandic chieftain and lawspeaker of the Althing, the ancient parliamentary assembly of Iceland. He was renowned for his wisdom and his contributions to the codification of Icelandic laws during the Commonwealth period.
In the 13th century, the name Mikala gained prominence in Scotland, where it was adopted by several Scottish clans with Norse ancestry. One such individual was Mikala of Argyll (c. 1220-1292), a Scottish nobleman and warrior who played a significant role in the Wars of Scottish Independence against the English.
Moving forward in history, the name Mikala was also used by notable individuals in other parts of Europe. In the 16th century, Mikala Vásquez (1504-1566) was a Spanish conquistador who participated in the conquest of Peru and later served as a colonial administrator in South America.
Another prominent figure bearing the name was Mikala Copernica (1673-1745), a Polish astronomer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and the calculation of planetary orbits.
It is worth noting that while the name Mikala has its roots in the Nordic languages, it has been adopted and adapted by various cultures over the centuries, leading to slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. However, the core meaning and historical significance of the name have remained largely intact.
People
Mikala + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mikala 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
Mikala: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mikala?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,902 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mikala 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 87,841 US residents.
Is Mikala a common name?
We classify Mikala as "Rare". It ranks above 95.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,018 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mikala most popular?
The single biggest year for Mikala was 1995, when 329 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mikala is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mikala in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,822 people with the name Mikala, or 1.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,754 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 Mikala 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 Mikala?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mikala leans strongly female. 3,770 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 51 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Mikala?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mikala is White at 62.2%. The next largest groups are Black (17.3%) and Hispanic (9.5%). 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 Mikala most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mikala in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.2% (2,379 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 Mikala in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mikala a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Mikala 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 Mikala still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mikala 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 Mikala 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 Mikala?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Mikala on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.