girl's name
Mila
MEE-lah
- Origin Slavic
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 144,169
the United States
#43
2025 births
Mila is a girl's name with two independent origins. In Slavic languages it derives from mil, meaning gracious or dear, and appears in older names such as Ludmila. In Spanish it functions as a short form of Milagros, meaning "miracles."
- Mila is a name of Slavic origin.
- Peaked in 2018, when 8,174 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 690 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1881.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Mila over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 10 |
| 1890s | 25 |
| 1900s | 30 |
| 1910s | 99 |
| 1920s | 178 |
| 1930s | 142 |
| 1940s | 168 |
| 1950s | 230 |
| 1960s | 258 |
| 1970s | 206 |
| 1980s | 163 |
| 1990s | 311 |
| 2000s | 2,885 |
| 2010s | 44,156 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 35,716 |
What Mila means
Mila means gracious or dear in its Slavic line, from the element mil found across Czech, Polish, Russian, and Serbian names. The Spanish line gives an entirely different sense, since Milagros means miracles, and both are in genuine use.
Where Mila comes from
Mila's Slavic line comes from the element mil, meaning gracious, dear, or beloved, one of the standard building blocks of Slavic compound names — Ludmila combines it with lud, people, and Milena and Miloslav use it in the same way. Mila served as the familiar short form of any of these. Quite separately, Spanish speakers use Mila as a short form of Milagros, a Marian devotional name meaning miracles, taken from the title Nuestra Señora de los Milagros. Because both traditions produced the same short form, English reference works list Slavic and Spanish origins side by side.
How popular is Mila?
In 2025, Mila was given to 4,802 babies in the United States, ranking #43 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Mila is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Mila is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mïla | Mïla is a rare spelling of Mila, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 35 times, mostly in France. | 35 |
| Milà | Milà is a rare spelling of Mila, written with a grave accent and recorded about 10 times, mostly in France. | 10 |
| Míla | Míla is a rare spelling of Mila, written with a fada and recorded 7 times, mostly in Ireland. | 7 |
Names that peaked alongside Mila
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Mila also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Mila over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Mila in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Arabic
- Mira
- Atayal
- Mala
- Belarusian
- Lyudmila
- Bulgarian
- Lyudmila
- Estonian
- Meila
- Finnish
- Maila
- French
- Lynda
- German
- Lina
- Hindi
- Mala
- Icelandic
- Milla
- Polish
- Mira
- Romanian
- Lina
- Russian
- Lyudmila
- Spanish
- Lina
- Swedish
- Lina
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Erlinda
Sibling names for Mila
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Mila — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Mila
What does the name Mila mean?
Mila means "gracious" or "dear" in Slavic languages, and separately serves as a Spanish short form of Milagros, meaning miracles.
Is Mila short for another name?
It began as a short form of Slavic names like Ludmila and of the Spanish Milagros, but is now widely given on its own.
Is Mila a Russian name?
The Slavic element mil appears across Russian, Czech, Polish, and Serbian naming, so Mila is at home in all of them.
How popular is the name Mila?
In 2025, Mila was given to 4,802 babies in the United States, ranking #43 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Is Mila a girl's or a boy's name?
Mila is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Mila?
Mila has 2 syllables.
When was Mila most popular?
Mila peaked in 2018, when 8,174 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Mila a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Mila currently ranks #11 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.