Michael is a usually masculine given name derived from the Hebrew phrase מי כאל mī kāʼēl, 'Who [is] like-El', in Aramaic: ܡܝܟܐܝܠ. The theophoric name is often read as a rhetorical question – "Who [is] like [the Hebrew God] El?", whose answer is "there is none like El", or "there is none as famous and powerful as God." This question is known in Latin as Quis ut Deus? Paradoxically, the name is also sometimes interpreted as, "One who is like God."
