Milia
A feminine variant of the Russian "Mila", meaning "gracious" or "dear one".
Name Census estimates that about 287 living Americans carry the first name Milia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Milia today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Milia births was 2014 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Milia. 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 Milia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
287
~ 1 in 1,194,266 Americans
Peak year
2014
20 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,329
Tracked since 1956
Census
Milia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 400 people with the first name Milia, which placed it at #24,171 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
#24,171
National first-name rank
People counted
400
400 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
37.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Milia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milia is White at 37.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.5%) and Hispanic (22.5%). 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 Milia 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 Milia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White37.3% · 149
- Black or African American24.5% · 98
- Hispanic or Latino22.5% · 90
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.0% · 32
- Two or more races6.0% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 7
Popularity
Milia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Milia from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 117 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Milia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Milia 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 Milia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Milia
The name Milia has its origins in Latin, derived from the word "milium," which means "millet," a small grain. It is believed that the name was initially used as a nickname or surname for someone associated with the cultivation or trade of millet.
In ancient Roman times, the name Milia was occasionally used as a feminine name, although it was more commonly found as a surname or cognomen. One of the earliest recorded instances is Milia Tertia, a Roman woman mentioned in an inscription from the 1st century AD.
During the Middle Ages, the name Milia gained popularity in various regions of Europe, particularly in Italy and Spain. It was often associated with concepts of fertility, abundance, and nourishment due to its connection with the millet grain.
In the 13th century, a notable figure bearing the name Milia was Milia di Gerardo, an Italian noblewoman from the city of Pisa. She was known for her philanthropic efforts and her involvement in the construction of several churches and monasteries.
Another historical figure was Milia Caravaca, a Spanish mystic and alleged visionary who lived in the 16th century. According to records, she claimed to have experienced visions and received divine messages, which gained her a following among the religious community of her time.
In the world of literature, Milia appears as a character in the 17th-century Spanish play "La vida es sueño" (Life Is a Dream) by Pedro Calderón de la Barca. The character, a servant, played a minor role in the famous work.
Moving into the 19th century, Milia Zara was an Italian painter and sculptor known for her works depicting religious themes and scenes from Italian folklore. She was born in 1832 and gained recognition for her artistic talents during her lifetime.
Lastly, Milia Rădulescu was a Romanian writer and journalist who lived from 1878 to 1956. She was actively involved in the women's rights movement and published several works advocating for gender equality and social reform.
While the name Milia has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has persisted as a unique and intriguing option, carrying connotations of ancient roots, cultural significance, and a connection to the natural world.
People
Milia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Milia 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
Milia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Milia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 287 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Milia 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 1,194,266 US residents.
Is Milia a common name?
We classify Milia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 292 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Milia most popular?
The single biggest year for Milia was 2014, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Milia 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 Milia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 400 people with the name Milia, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,171 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 Milia 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 Milia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Milia appears almost entirely female. Of the 401 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Milia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milia is White at 37.3%. The next largest groups are Black (24.5%) and Hispanic (22.5%). 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 Milia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Milia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.3% (149 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 Milia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Milia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Milia 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 Milia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Milia 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 Milia 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 are called Milia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.