Milena
A feminine given name of Slavic origin meaning "gracious" or "dear one".
Name Census estimates that about 7,320 living Americans carry the first name Milena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Milena today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Milena births was 2019 (428 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Milena. 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 Milena with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Milena is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
7.3K
~ 1 in 46,824 Americans
Peak year
2019
428 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#786
Tracked since 1918
Census
Milena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,919 people with the first name Milena, which placed it at #2,651 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
#2,651
National first-name rank
People counted
8.9K
8,919 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Milena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milena is White at 54.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.7%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Milena 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 Milena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.2% · 4,837
- Hispanic or Latino37.7% · 3,361
- Two or more races3.2% · 287
- Black or African American3.0% · 265
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 144
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 25
Popularity
Milena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Milena from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,218 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Milena remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Milena 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 Milena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Milenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Milena, while Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 152 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Milena
Milena is a feminine given name derived from the Slavic element "mil", meaning "gracious" or "dear". Its origins can be traced back to the medieval era in various Slavic regions, including present-day Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, and the Balkans.
The name Milena gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly among the Slavic nobility and aristocracy. It was often bestowed upon daughters as a symbol of grace, affection, and endearment. The earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in historical records and documents from the 12th and 13th centuries.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Milena was Milena of Trnava, a 13th-century Bohemian noblewoman who played a significant role in the political landscape of the Kingdom of Bohemia. She served as a trusted advisor to King Wenceslaus I and was renowned for her diplomatic skills and influence.
In the realm of literature, the name Milena gained prominence through the works of renowned Czech writer Franz Kafka. His intimate letters to Milena Jesenská, a Czech journalist and translator born in 1896, were published posthumously and shed light on their complex relationship and Kafka's personal life.
Another famous Milena was Milena Pavlović-Barili, a Serbian princess and artist born in 1909. She was known for her avant-garde artistic pursuits and her involvement in the Serbian cultural scene during the early 20th century.
Milena Rudnytska, a Ukrainian composer and pianist born in 1892, made significant contributions to the development of Ukrainian classical music. Her compositions, which blended traditional folk elements with contemporary styles, earned her recognition as a pioneering figure in Ukrainian musical history.
In the realm of sports, Milena Rezková, a Czech gymnast born in 1976, achieved notable success in international competitions. She won multiple medals, including gold, at the Olympic Games and World Championships, cementing her place as one of the most accomplished Czech gymnasts of her time.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Milena throughout history, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods.
People
Milena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Milena 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
Milena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Milena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,320 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Milena 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 46,824 US residents.
Is Milena a common name?
We classify Milena as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,475 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Milena most popular?
The single biggest year for Milena was 2019, when 428 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Milena is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Milena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,919 people with the name Milena, or 2.95 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,651 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 Milena 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 Milena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Milena appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,922 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 Milena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milena is White at 54.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (37.7%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Milena most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Milena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.2% (4,837 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 Milena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Milena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Milena 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 Milena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Milena 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 Milena 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 common is the name Milena?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.