What’s in a Name?

Thanks to Alexandra, who has a lovely name, for inspiring this post.

Do you like your name?

Generally, yes. Michael was the most popular male baby name in the US from every year (except 1960) from 1954 to 1998. 4,350,425 of us were named Michael in the 100 years ending 2023. Because of that, I didn’t love being one of five or six Michaels all through grade school. But that wore off and I’ve come to inhabit the name comfortably.

Do people regularly misspell/mispronounce your name?

Surprisingly, Michael gets misspelled as “Micheal” quite often. Maybe some folks spell it that way, but I’ve never met one of them.

If you were going change your name to anything else, what would you choose?

I honestly have never considered this. Michael Howard Burkhardt doesn't exactly roll off the tongue so I’d probably swap either my middle name or my surname or both. But to what?

Do you go by your first name?

Every day.

Do you have a middle name?

Howard. It was my father’s name.

Do you have a nickname?

No, although people who don’t know me well sometimes call me “Mike” and I don’t particularly care for that.

Random Opinion

I really like Michael as a girl’s or woman’s name.

Bonus Fact

Michael is one of three named angels in the Bible, along with Gabriel and Raphael.