In Russia the name is spelled "Mikhail" and is pronounced "MYK-Ehl." A famous bearer of this name was Mikhail Aleksandrovich Bakunin, an anarchist ally and opponent of Karl Marx 1814\1876.
Actually, in Russian this name is pronounced Mee-ha-EEL. The stress is on the last syllable, with the "ee" as in "eat" and the "a" long as in "art". There is no "k" sound in the name, so I don't understand why it's transcribed into English as Mikhail.
― Anonymous User 9/24/2005
1
The 'k' is added because the Russian 'kh' is not quite like the 'h' in English, it's more a harsher, more gutteral sound. It does LOOK like the 'k' and 'h' of the name are part of two separate syllables which explains why people would pronounce it like they are, but they go together as one consonant cluster.