Michal - Michael

Note that there are two names which sound the same but are spelled differently. They should not be confused.

• The common male forename is Michael, with an '-e-' after the '-a-'. In Judaism and Christianity, Michael is an archangel, the captain of the heavenly army of angels, and is a common dedicatee (as Saint Michael, or Saint Michael and All Angels) of Christian churches.
• There is a much rarer female forename Michal (with no '-e-'). The first wife of David, the second King of Israel was Michal, the daughter of Saul, the first King of Israel. The name is not often used in English, although apparently growing in popularity in modern Israel. (The Italian form of the name is Micól (pronounced with the stress on the second syllable), the first name of, e.g., Micól Finzi-Contini, one of the main characters in Il giardino dei Finzi-Contini (The Garden of the Finzi-Contini, 1962), a historical novel by Giorgio Bassani (1916-2000). Set in the north Italian city of Ferrara in the period between the First and Second World Wars, i.e., in the period which saw the rise of Italian fascism, the novel tells the story of the relationship between the narrator and the Finzi-Contini, a wealthy Jewish family in the city. The novel was made into a film with the same title in 1970.)

Both Michael and Michal are pronounced as 'mike-'ll', IPA: /ˈmaɪk əl/.

Etymological note: Michael (and its female equivalent Michal) both mean 'who is like God?' in Hebrew.