Millard
A masculine name of Middle English origin meaning "pleasant counselor".
Name Census estimates that about 4,568 living Americans carry the first name Millard. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Millard today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Millard births was 1922 (485 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Millard. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Millard is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Millards were born before 1966.
People living today
4.6K
~ 1 in 75,034 Americans
Peak year
1922
485 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
2022 SSA rank
#3,675
Tracked since 1880
Census
Millard in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,533 people with the first name Millard, which placed it at #4,207 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
#4,207
National first-name rank
People counted
4.5K
4,533 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Millard
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Millard is White at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Millard 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 Millard at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.6% · 3,607
- Black or African American14.9% · 676
- Two or more races2.5% · 113
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 40
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 39
Gender
Gender distribution for Millard
Out of the 16,766 babies given the name Millard since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Millard as a male name
- Ranked #13,675 in 2022
- 5 male births in 2022
- Peak: 1922 (478 births)
Millard as a female name
- Ranked #3,675 in 1939
- 7 female births in 1939
- Peak: 1919 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Millard appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,529 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Millard: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Millard from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 3,971 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Millard 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 Millard during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Millards live
The SSA's state-level files cover 36 states and territories. Kentucky, North Carolina, Alabama recorded the most babies named Millard, while South Dakota, District of Columbia, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 321 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Millard
The name Millard originates from the Old English language and dates back to the medieval era. It is derived from the Old English words "mill" meaning a mill or grinding place, and "herd" meaning a guardian or keeper. Thus, the name Millard initially referred to someone who was the keeper of a mill, an important occupation in those times.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Millard can be found in the Domesday Book, a historical record of land ownership in England compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror. The name is listed as "Milliard" and "Millard" in various entries, suggesting its use as a surname or occupational name during the Norman period.
In the 13th century, the name Millard appeared in the Pipe Rolls of Lincolnshire, a series of administrative records from the Exchequer of England. These records document individuals named Millard who were landowners or tenants in the county of Lincolnshire.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Millard was Sir Millard de Freston, a knight who lived in the late 13th century. He is mentioned in the Chronicles of Walter of Guisborough, a historical record of the period, for his participation in the battle of Falkirk in 1298.
In the 16th century, the name Millard gained prominence with the birth of Millard Hubbard (c. 1530-1594), an English politician and landowner who served as a Member of Parliament for Buckinghamshire.
Another significant figure was Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), the 13th President of the United States. He was born in Cayuga County, New York, and served as President from 1850 to 1853, assuming office after the death of President Zachary Taylor.
In the 20th century, Millard Sheets (1907-1989) was an American artist and educator known for his works in various media, including watercolor, mosaic, and architectural design. He was also a professor at several universities, including the University of Southern California.
Millard Lampell (1919-1997) was an American screenwriter and novelist, best known for his works such as the film "The Defiant Ones" and the novel "Whatever Became of...?".
Millard Fuller (1935-2009) was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist who founded Habitat for Humanity International, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building affordable housing for those in need.
People
Millard + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Millard 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
Millard: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Millard?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,568 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Millard 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 75,034 US residents.
Is Millard a common name?
We classify Millard as "Rare". It ranks above 96.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,766 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Millard most popular?
The single biggest year for Millard was 1922, when 485 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Millard is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Millard in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,533 people with the name Millard, or 1.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,207 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 Millard 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 Millard?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Millard appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,529 people counted with this name, 99.2% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Millard?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Millard is White at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Black (14.9%) and Two or More Races (2.5%). 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 Millard most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Millard in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.6% (3,607 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 Millard in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Millard a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Millard in the SSA data are male. 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 Millard still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Millard 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 Millard 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 share the name Millard?
You can see how many people have the name Millard on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.