Michael ( /ˈmaɪkəl/) is a given name that comes from the Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל / מיכאל‎ (Mikha'el), derived from the Hebrew question מי כמו אלוהים? (Hebrew pronunciation: [mi kəmo ʔelohim]) meaning "Who is like God?" In English, it is sometimes shortened to Mike, Mikey, or, especially in Ireland, Mick. In Russian language, it is Mikhail and Mykhailo in Ukrainian.

Female forms of Michael include Michèle, Michelle, Michaela, Mechelle, Micheline, and Michaelle, although Michael is occasionally seen as a female name, with women named Michael including actresses Michael Learned and Michael Michele. Another form is Mychal, which can either be a male or female name. Surnames that come from Michael include Carmichael, Dimichele, MacMichael, McMichael, Micallef, Michaelson, Mikhaylov, Mykhaylenko, Michaels and Mitchell.

The name first appears in the Bible, Numbers 13:13, where Sethur the son of Michael is one of twelve spies sent into the Land of Canaan. The Archangel Michael, referred to later in the Bible (Daniel 12:1), is considered a saint by the Roman Catholic Church and Eastern Orthodox Church. 29 September is the feast day of the three archangels, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

Claudia Ciesla (born February 12, 1987) is a German model, actress, and singer of Polish descent.

Born in Wodzisław Śląski, Poland, she grew up in Buków, part of Silesia, five miles from the Czech border. Her father is Polish, her mother is German and she has two older sisters.

In 2009 Ciesla embraced Hinduism, she explained that she believes in Karma and reincarnation and considers lord Ganesha as her savior.

Claudia Ciesla started modeling at the age of 15 working for shows involved in fashion and dancing. At the age of 17 she moved to Bamberg, Germany. She was in Germany discovered by the former German Chief Editor, Stefan Gessulat, and appeared in the August 2005 Matador issue as Miss Matador. She went on to do many glamorous bikini style and fashion modeling shoots.

In March 2006, Ciesla won a subscribers poll on the internet websites of Auto Bild, Bild, Sat.1, T-Online and Kabeleins to give her first place as Germany's Super Girl 2006. In May 2006 she was selected by Bild as the Football/Soccer Worldcup Girl 2006, and during the World Cup 2006 she was featured on the front page of a total of seven publications of that newspaper. In November 2007 she told in an interview, that she plans after her modelling career to become a tax consultant.