Michelle

Michelle is simply a French feminine form of Michael. Michael means "who is like the Lord," so this can also be taken to be the meaning of Michelle. Michelle's popularity in the English-speaking world has been phenomenal. The name first appeared in the U.S. top 1000 in 1938, first appeared in the top 100 in 1954 and has consistently remained in the top 100 ever since. From 1966 through 1980, Michelle was in the top 10. The incredible popularity of Michelle over so many decades means that there are a lot of women and girls out there named Michelle. If you wonder why it is that you don't seem to personally know a ton of Michelles, try asking women and girls with which you are aquainted, "What is your middle name?" You will most likely find that you know a lot more Michelles than you realized. The extreme popularity of Michelle is no doubt partly influenced by the extreme popularity of the Beatles song "Michelle," but it could be that the extreme popularity of that song is influenced by the fact that there were so many Michelles out there who love to be sung about. Nicknames for Michelle include Chelle, Shell, Shelley, and any other variation or respelling of that second syllable you can think of, some of which have become quite popular as names in their own right.. I also have personally known one Michelle who went by the first syllable of her name, which wound up sounding something like "Meesh." Although Michelle is a relatively new entry to the name game in the English-speaking world, it is probably here to stay, and might be considered a new classic which will never go out of style.