Mykela
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly a variant of Michael.
Name Census estimates that about 203 living Americans carry the first name Mykela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mykela today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mykela births was 1995 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mykela. 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
203
~ 1 in 1,688,445 Americans
Peak year
1995
22 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2013 SSA rank
#15,950
Tracked since 1992
Census
Mykela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 233 people with the first name Mykela, which placed it at #34,862 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
#34,862
National first-name rank
People counted
233
233 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
40.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mykela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mykela is Black at 40.8%. The next largest groups are White (33.5%) and Hispanic (11.6%). 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 Mykela 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 Mykela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American40.8% · 95
- White33.5% · 78
- Hispanic or Latino11.6% · 27
- Two or more races9.0% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Mykela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mykela from the 1990s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 133 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
Mykela 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 Mykela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mykela
The name Mykela has its origins rooted in the Greek language and culture, with its earliest known usage dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "Μυκηλη" (Mykele), which means "mushroom." This unusual etymology suggests that the name may have initially been used as a nickname or descriptive term before evolving into a formal name.
Records indicate that Mykela was used as a feminine name in various regions of ancient Greece, particularly in the southern regions such as the Peloponnese peninsula. The earliest documented instance of the name can be found in a fragmentary inscription from the 5th century BCE, discovered in the ruins of the ancient city of Corinth.
While the name does not appear to have any direct historical references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its Greek origins have contributed to its enduring presence throughout the centuries. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Mykela of Argos, a renowned sculptor who lived in the 3rd century BCE and was celebrated for her intricate marble statues depicting mythological scenes.
During the Byzantine era, Mykela was the name of a prominent Byzantine noblewoman who lived in the 11th century. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in the court of Emperor Basil II.
In the 16th century, Mykela Vasilopoulou was a Greek Renaissance poet and scholar who gained recognition for her lyrical works and contributions to the revival of classical Greek literature.
Another notable figure was Mykela Petrova, a 19th-century Russian philanthropist and activist who dedicated her life to improving the living conditions of impoverished communities in St. Petersburg. She was born in 1825 and lived until 1901.
More recently, Mykela Goodman was an American artist and painter who gained acclaim for her vibrant abstract expressionist works. She was born in 1934 and passed away in 2018, leaving behind a significant legacy in the world of modern art.
It is important to note that while these examples provide insight into the historical usage of the name Mykela, its popularity and cultural significance have evolved over time, reflecting the diverse influences that have shaped its journey throughout the centuries.
People
Mykela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mykela 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
Mykela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mykela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 203 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mykela 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 1,688,445 US residents.
Is Mykela a common name?
We classify Mykela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 208 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mykela most popular?
The single biggest year for Mykela was 1995, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mykela is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mykela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 233 people with the name Mykela, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #34,862 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 Mykela 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 Mykela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mykela appears almost entirely female. Of the 231 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Mykela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mykela is Black at 40.8%. The next largest groups are White (33.5%) and Hispanic (11.6%). 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 Mykela most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mykela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.8% (95 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 Mykela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mykela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mykela 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 Mykela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mykela 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 Mykela 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 are named Mykela?
Want to know how many people share the name Mykela? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.