Milla
A feminine name of Slavic origin signifying "dear one" or "gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 2,010 living Americans carry the first name Milla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Milla today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Milla births was 2011 (144 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Milla. 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 Milla with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Milla is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 170,525 Americans
Peak year
2011
144 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,250
Tracked since 1892
Census
Milla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,088 people with the first name Milla, which placed it at #7,335 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
#7,335
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,088 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Milla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milla is White at 60.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.9%) and Two or More Races (8.5%). 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 Milla 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 Milla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.3% · 1,260
- Hispanic or Latino21.9% · 458
- Two or more races8.5% · 178
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 124
- Black or African American2.4% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 18
Popularity
Milla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Milla from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 908 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Milla 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 Milla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Millas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Milla, while North Carolina, Kentucky, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Milla
The name Milla has its roots in several languages and cultures. It originated as a diminutive form of the Latin name Camilla, derived from the word "camillus," meaning a young attendant in religious ceremonies. The name Camilla itself is thought to have Etruscan origins, an ancient civilization that predated the Romans in Italy.
In ancient Roman mythology, Camilla was a legendary warrior maiden who fought alongside Aeneas in the Aeneid, an epic poem by Virgil. She was known for her incredible speed and skill with the bow and arrow. The name Camilla, and by extension Milla, became associated with strength, bravery, and independence.
The name Milla also has connections to the Germanic languages, where it may have originated as a shortened form of names like Mildritha or Mildred, both meaning "gentle strength." In this context, the name carries connotations of gentleness and kindness.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Milla can be found in the Domesday Book, a record of landowners in England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The name appears as "Mille," likely referring to a female landowner or tenant at the time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Milla, including:
1. Milla Jovovich (born 1975), a Ukrainian-American actress and model, known for her roles in the Resident Evil film series.
2. Milla Baldo (1927-2022), an Italian actress and comedian, best known for her work in Italian cinema and television.
3. Milla Handley (1949-2005), an American actress and singer, known for her roles in Broadway musicals and television shows.
4. Milla Jasmine (born 1992), a French reality television personality and social media influencer.
5. Milla Basset (born 1983), a Swedish singer and songwriter, best known for her participation in the Eurovision Song Contest in 2004.
The name Milla has transcended its ancient origins and continues to be a popular choice in various cultures, carrying with it a rich history and diverse meanings ranging from strength and bravery to gentleness and kindness.
People
Milla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Milla 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
Milla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Milla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,010 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Milla 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 170,525 US residents.
Is Milla a common name?
We classify Milla as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,096 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Milla most popular?
The single biggest year for Milla was 2011, when 144 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Milla is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Milla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,088 people with the name Milla, or 0.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,335 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 Milla 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 Milla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Milla appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,094 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Milla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milla is White at 60.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.9%) and Two or More Races (8.5%). 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 Milla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Milla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.3% (1,260 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 Milla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Milla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Milla 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 Milla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Milla 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 Milla 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 the name Milla?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Milla, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.