Mike
A surname that usually began as a short form of Michael, and in some cases may reflect Dutch or German pet-name forms.
The #8,408 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 78,561 Americans shares it.
Etymology
Mike is most often understood as a shortened form of the personal name Michael, ultimately from Hebrew Mikha'el, meaning "Who is like God?" In Dutch and German naming, similar forms such as Mike, Mijke, or related diminutives could also arise as pet names from Maria or Michel, so the surname may have more than one source in different families. As a surname, it is generally a later hereditary form built from a familiar given name.
History
The name appears in historical surname lists largely as a nickname or diminutive rather than as a major old-established hereditary surname. In English-language records it would usually be linked to Michael, while continental European forms show related pet-name development. Modern American bearers may therefore descend from different immigrant lines rather than from a single ancestral family.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
Some older surname dictionaries cite Mike alongside other everyday nicknames like Nick, Dick, and Harry, showing how ordinary given-name short forms could become surnames.
From the historical record
“names in brackets after the name proper : — Toffy, Clogger, Wheel, Stem, Pluck, Diamond, Shrimp, Hutch, Cock, Sweet, Pantry, Few, Pen, Fash, Mike, Willox, Strodger, Daddy, Smiler, Nice, Jenny's, Manty, Fullsea, Music, Owd Ned, Margery, Buskin, Orchard, Sifi, and Muff. The Irish name-system is elaborate and somewhat…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)