Mikayla
- Pronunciation
- [Mi-kay-la]
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Feminine Of Michael Gift From God.
- Origin
- English
About the Name Mikayla
Mikayla is a modern American spelling variant of Michaela, the feminine form of Michael (see separate entry on Michael for the Hebrew Mikha'el etymology meaning "who is like God?" — referring to the archangel Michael, the chief of the heavenly host in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic tradition). The K-spelling Mikayla is essentially a 21st-century American invention.
The various spellings (Mikayla, Michaela, Mikaela, Mckayla) are tracked separately by SSA and represent the same underlying Hebrew name. The Mikayla spelling specifically appeals to parents seeking a more visually distinctive form. The name has been used predominantly for girls in modern American naming.
Mikayla's American climb is recent: the name climbed from outside the US top 1000 in 1995 to the US top 300 girls' rank by 2014 and the top 300 since. Notable contemporary bearers include American gymnast Mikayla Skinner; the contemporary American basketball player Mikayla Pivec; and the contemporary fictional Mikayla of various contemporary novels. The name's appeal sits in three contemporary American naming preferences: the layered Hebrew-archangel pedigree (the same root as Michael), the popular three-syllable -ayla ending family (Mikayla, Kayla, Layla), and the modern visual presence with the K-spelling. Three flowing syllables, soft consonants, and tonal warmth distinctive to Hebrew-derived naming. The name reads as both classical-religious and contemporary American. Common nicknames Mik, Mika (back-end shortening), Kayla (back-end shortening, a popular standalone name on its own), and the rare May each carry distinct registers; the alternate spellings Michaela (the historical spelling), Mikayla, Mikaela, and Mckayla have their own SSA tracking. International forms include Michaela (Italian/Spanish/Czech/German), Michèle (French feminine), Mikhaela (Russian), and the broader Michael/Mikha'el family.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Mikayla
US Popularity History (1998–2025)
Annual US births named Mikayla by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 1998 with 3,858 girls named Mikayla (girl rank #82 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #748 for girls (364 US births). That's 666 places below its 1998 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
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Where in the US Is Mikayla Most Popular?
Average girl-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's girls-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Mikayla the strongest states are Hawaii, New Mexico, New Jersey.
Strongest girls-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | #165 | 50 |
| 2 | New Mexico | #289 | 29 |
| 3 | New Jersey | #297 | 283 |
| 4 | Connecticut | #315 | 97 |
| 5 | Nevada | #321 | 30 |
| 6 | New York | #340 | 503 |
| 7 | Florida | #433 | 405 |
| 8 | California | #433 | 780 |
| 9 | Maryland | #445 | 128 |
| 10 | Illinois | #447 | 255 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Mikayla in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mackayla | Female | English | |
| Mckayla | Female | English | |
| Micaela | Feminine Of Michael Gift From God. | Female | English |
| Mikaela | Feminine Of Michael Gift From God. | Female | English |
| Mikella | Feminine Of Michael Gift From God. | Female | English |
| Mikhaila | Gift From God | Female | English |
| Mychaela | Feminine Of Michael Gift From God. | Female | English |
Looking for names like Mikayla?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Mikayla to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Mikayla against today's most popular girls-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).