Milana
An Italian name meaning "gracious" or "favored one".
Name Census estimates that about 6,603 living Americans carry the first name Milana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Milana today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Milana births was 2015 (421 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Milana. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Milana with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Milana is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
6.6K
~ 1 in 51,909 Americans
Peak year
2015
421 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#783
Tracked since 1947
Census
Milana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,086 people with the first name Milana, which placed it at #3,864 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,864
National first-name rank
People counted
5.1K
5,086 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Milana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milana is White at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.9%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Milana described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Milana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.9% · 3,556
- Hispanic or Latino12.9% · 654
- Two or more races7.2% · 367
- Black or African American5.4% · 276
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 215
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 18
Popularity
Milana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Milana from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,349 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Milana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Milana by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Milana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Milanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Milana, while Utah, Rhode Island, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 177 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Milana
The name Milana has its roots in the Slavic languages, particularly Serbian and Croatian. It is believed to have originated from the word "mila," meaning "dear" or "beloved," combined with the suffix "-na," which is a common feminine ending in these languages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Milana can be traced back to the 12th century in the region of modern-day Serbia and Croatia. It was used as a name for girls born into noble families, reflecting the endearment and affection expressed in its meaning.
In the 14th century, a notable figure named Milana Branković was a Serbian princess and the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Manuel II Palaiologos. Her marriage played a significant role in strengthening political alliances between Serbia and the Byzantine Empire during that time.
Another historical figure with the name Milana was a Croatian noblewoman from the 16th century, Milana Drašković. She was known for her charitable works and patronage of the arts, particularly in the city of Zagreb.
In the realm of literature, the name Milana appears in the works of Serbian writer Ivo Andrić, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. One of his characters, Milana, featured prominently in his novel "The Bridge on the Drina."
Moving forward in time, Milana Terzieva was a Bulgarian actress and singer who gained popularity in the mid-20th century. She starred in several films and theatrical productions, leaving a lasting impact on the cultural scene of her time.
It is important to note that while the name Milana has its origins in the Slavic cultures, it has gained popularity in various parts of the world over time, transcending its initial geographic boundaries.
People
Milana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Milana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Milana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Milana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6,603 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Milana going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 51,909 US residents.
Is Milana a common name?
We classify Milana as "Rare". It ranks above 97.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,690 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Milana most popular?
The single biggest year for Milana was 2015, when 421 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Milana is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Milana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,086 people with the name Milana, or 1.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,864 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Milana in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Milana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Milana appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,092 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Milana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milana is White at 69.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.9%) and Two or More Races (7.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Milana most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Milana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.9% (3,556 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Milana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Milana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Milana in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Milana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Milana in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Milana can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Milana as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.