Mickey

Where Mickey comes from

The proper noun is derived from Mick (“diminutive of the male given name Michael”) + -ey (a variant of -y (diminutive suffix)). The common noun is derived from the proper noun. Noun senses 1 (“Mickey Mouse cartoon”) and 3.2 (“type of bombsight assisted by radar”) are short forms of Mickey Mouse. Noun sense 2 (“synonym of Mick”) refers to the fact that since the 17th century Michael and its diminutives Mick, Mickey, and Mike have been one of the most common names in Ireland, and that many Irish people are Roman Catholic. Noun sense 3.1 is a short form of Mickey Finn.
— Wiktionary's entry for Mickey
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1898
    First appearance
    #885 among boys, 7 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1918
    Mickey Spillane born
    American crime novelist
  3. 1920
    Mickey Rooney born
    American actor
  4. 1929
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  5. 1957
    Peak, #248
    950 babies named Mickey — more than any year before or since.
  6. 1966
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #360.
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the male given name Michael.
  • A diminutive of the female given names Michaela and Michelle.
Namesakes
  • Mickey Rooney · American actor, 1920–2014
  • Mickey Spillane · American crime novelist, 1918–2006
  • Mickey Mantle · American baseball player, 1931–1995
  • Mickey Cohen · American criminal, 1913–1976
  • Mickey Kuhn · American actor, 1932–2022

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.