The most popular name in Michigan is Oliver for boys and Charlotte for girls. Jennifer was the most popular in Michigan and all 50 states through most of the 1970s.
Current Trends and Predictions
The 2000s had a lot of changes at the top with a new popular name pretty much every year. Oliver is predicted to be the most popular boys name in Michigan. Amelia is predicted to be the most popular girl name in Michigan this year. Amelia means "Beautiful and trustworthy" in Arabic. Then followed by:
- Charlotte
- Olivia
- Sophia
- Ava
- Emma
- Harper
- Evelyn
- Eleanor
- Isabella
To browse popular names lists from the US and around the world, visit our main Popular Names page. You might also want to browse Nameberry’s real-time lists of Popular Girl Names 2022 and Popular Boy Names 2022. For more local data, search the full lists of Popular Names by State.
Name Data Analysis
Each year, the Social Security Administration publishes the totals for the first names from all Social Security card applications for births that occurred in the US since 1880. The publication is the most complete record of first name usage in the United States. Our formula looks at the most 5 most recent years worth of data from the Social Security Administration to detect any trends.
Names in bold are more unique to Michigan because they are not in the national top 50 names for the past 5 years. The most common last names in Michigan are:
- Smith
- Johnson
- Williams
Cultural and Geographical Influences
The popularity of names also depends on what part of the world you live in. Below are 1000+ current most common first names in the world and where they are popular around the world. Although Michigan is often called the “Wolverine State,” its more common nickname is the “Great Lakes State.” This name comes from the fact that Michigan is the only state in the United States that borders four of the five Great Lakes.
Regional Pronunciations
Here are some common Michigan pronunciations so that you can proudly walk around and convincingly say you’ve been a Red Wings fan, ya know, like since you were a kid:
- “AK-cidih”: Accident
- “aeh Narbor”: Ann Arbor
- “Ashfault”: Asphalt
- “Aent”: Aunt
- “Bob-lo”: Bois Blanc
- “Bolth”: Both
The map makes the Midwest and East Coast’s preference towards these common names clear. Specifically, Illinois is home to 21 commonly named places, including eight Centervilles and two Arlington’s, Clinton’s, Fairview’s, and Washington’s. New York, on the other hand, is full of 20 other popular city names like four Clinton’s and three Greenville’s and Washington’s.