Milos
A masculine name of Slavic origin meaning "gracious" or "merciful".
Name Census estimates that about 399 living Americans carry the first name Milos. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Milos today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Milos births was 2019 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Milos. 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 Milos with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
399
~ 1 in 859,033 Americans
Peak year
2019
22 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,548
Tracked since 1920
Census
Milos in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,349 people with the first name Milos, which placed it at #10,027 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
#10,027
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,349 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Milos
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milos is White at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.8%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Milos 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 Milos at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.7% · 1,278
- Hispanic or Latino2.8% · 38
- Black or African American1.2% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 9
- Two or more races0.5% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Milos: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Milos from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 137 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Milos remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Milos 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 Milos during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Milos' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Florida, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Milos, while Pennsylvania, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Milos
The name Milos has its origins in the Slavic languages, derived from the Proto-Slavic word "milъ," meaning "gracious" or "dear." It is a masculine given name that has been popular across various Slavic cultures, particularly in countries like Serbia, Croatia, and Bulgaria.
The earliest recorded use of the name Milos can be traced back to the medieval period, with references found in historical chronicles and records from the region. One notable example is Milos Obilic, a Serbian knight who lived in the late 14th century and is celebrated as a hero in Serbian folklore for his role in the Battle of Kosovo against the Ottoman Empire.
Throughout history, the name Milos has been borne by several notable figures across various fields. One of the most famous was Milos Obrenovic (1780-1860), a Serbian revolutionary and the first Prince of Serbia, who played a crucial role in the Serbian uprising against Ottoman rule in the early 19th century.
Another prominent figure was Milos Crnjanski (1893-1977), a Serbian poet, novelist, and diplomat who is considered one of the most influential writers of the Serbian modernist movement. His works, such as the novel "Migrations," explored themes of identity, exile, and the human condition.
In the realm of sports, Milos Raonic (born 1990) is a Canadian professional tennis player of Serbian descent who has achieved notable success on the ATP Tour, including reaching the Wimbledon final in 2016.
The name Milos has also been associated with the world of art and culture. Milos Forman (1932-2018) was a Czech-American filmmaker who won Academy Awards for his films "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" and "Amadeus," both acclaimed for their poignant storytelling and direction.
Milos Zeman (born 1944) is a prominent Czech politician who served as the President of the Czech Republic from 2013 to 2023, previously holding positions as the Prime Minister and the leader of the Czech Social Democratic Party.
While the name Milos has maintained its popularity within Slavic cultures, it has also gained recognition internationally, transcending linguistic and cultural boundaries, reflecting the rich history and diversity associated with this name.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Milos
People
Milos + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Milos 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
Milos: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Milos?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 399 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Milos 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 859,033 US residents.
Is Milos a common name?
We classify Milos as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 417 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Milos most popular?
The single biggest year for Milos was 2019, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Milos is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Milos in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,349 people with the name Milos, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,027 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 Milos 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 Milos?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Milos appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,353 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Milos?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milos is White at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.8%) and Black (1.2%). 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 Milos most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Milos in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (1,278 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 Milos in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Milos a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Milos 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 Milos still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Milos 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 Milos 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 Milos as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.