Michaela
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michaela |
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Gender | Female |
Meaning | Feminine form of Michael, meaning "who is like God?" |
Wikipedia articles | All pages beginning with Michaela |
Michaela is an Irish, English, German, Czech, and Slovak given name. It is a feminine form of Michael, which means "who is like God" and "liberator of men." [1]. Its Hebrew root is מִיכָאֵל consisting of the letters Mem, Yud, Chaf, Aleph, Lamed, and Hay.
It was rare in any country until it became fashionable in the German-speaking world, i.e. Germany, Austria in the 1960s and 1970s, e.g. German actress Michaela May. Its use spread to Middle and North Europe, then the United Kingdom and the United States, where its popularity peaked in 1997, the year in which the popular TV series Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman first aired in the U.S. The series' lead character was named Michaela Quinn. American spelling variants include Michaela,Michaella,Michaelia, Michayla, Mikayla, Makayla, Mackayla, Mikaela, Macayla, Mikaila, and Mckayla, suggesting that some parents see it as an elaborated form of Kayla or Cayla. In the UK, it is sometimes shortened to "Mickie" or "Mickey."
The name's popularity in Britain may have been influenced by the success of wildlife documentary presenter Michaela Denis, who was seen widely on TV in the UK after the mid 1950s.
Michela is the Italian form of the name, and Mikaela is the Scandinavian form, Michaela in the German form, while Micaela is the Spanish and Miguelina is also used in Spain and Portugal. Mihaela or Mikala are the Romanian forms, with Mihaela being the more traditional and Mikala the modern. It can also appear as Mikhaila or Machaila. The name has several pronunciations, the most popular Mi-KAY-la also followed by mi-KAI-la, mee-KAH-AY-lah (German) mee-KAH-ee-lah (Italian), ma-KAY-la and the very rare mih-KEL-lah, another one very rare is mih-KIE-lah.
[edit] References
- "Behind the Name"
- Duden: Lexikon der Vornamen. 2004.