girl's name · in the US
Miley
MY-lee (English)
- Origin English
- Gender Girl (US)
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 22,563
the United States
#338
2025 births
Miley is a girl's name best known from Miley Cyrus, whose own was a nickname from smiley. It is on record from 1889, so it existed for 119 years before the 2008 peak that made it familiar.
- Miley is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 2008, when 2,652 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 3,684 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1889.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Miley Over Time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, which so far covers 2020 to 2025.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 5 |
| 1890s | 5 |
| 1900s | 0 |
| 1910s | 17 |
| 1920s | 71 |
| 1930s | 16 |
| 1940s | 12 |
| 1950s | 7 |
| 1960s | 10 |
| 1970s | 0 |
| 1980s | 29 |
| 1990s | 36 |
| 2000s | 5,924 |
| 2010s | 6,077 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 3,570 |
What Miley Means
Miley has no settled meaning. The modern name comes from a nickname based on smiley, while an older Irish surname of the same spelling means devotee of Aodh.
Where Miley Comes From
Miley has two histories that share a spelling. The older is an Irish surname, Ó Maol Aodha, meaning a devotee of Aodh, anglicized variously as Miley, Millea and Mulhey — the same maol element that gives Malone and Mulligan. The modern given name has nothing to do with it: Destiny Hope Cyrus was called Smiley as a child for her expression, shortened to Miley, and adopted it legally in 2008. What makes the name unusual is that it is on record from 1889, more than a century before that, so a rare surname-derived name and a celebrity nickname converged on one spelling and the second one buried the first.
Miley in Use
Miley ranks 188th in Scotland on 21 births, 214th in England and Wales on 228, 338th in the United States on 900, 362nd in Northern Ireland, 608th in Ireland and 2,876th in France — all seven markets. It peaked in the United States in 2008, when 2,652 babies were registered, and is falling. It is on record from 1889 across 22,563 lifetime births, so the great majority of its recorded use arrived in a single decade.
How Popular Is Miley?
In 2025, Miley was given to 900 babies in the United States, ranking #338 that year. It ranks among the top 1,000 names in the United States.
Where Miley 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 Miley Is Spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Mïley | Mïley is a rare spelling of Miley, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names That Peaked Alongside Miley
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents Who Like Miley Also Like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Miley over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Boys' or Girls' Name?
Miley is used differently depending on where you are. Each figure is the share of babies given the name who were girls, over the last ten years of that country's records.
- United States Girls' 100% girls · 4,862 babies
- England & Wales Girls' 96% girls · 1,743 babies
- Canada Girls' 100% girls · 436 babies
- Scotland Girls' 100% girls · 155 babies
- France Girls' 100% girls · 100 babies
- Northern Ireland Girls' 100% girls · 80 babies
- Ireland Both 54% girls · 68 babies
How to Say Miley
- English MY-lee /ˈmaɪ.li/
1 nickname for Miley
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Miley 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.
Sibling Names for Miley
Names from the same era that do not rhyme or share an initial with Miley — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common Questions About Miley
What does the name Miley mean?
The modern name comes from smiley, as a childhood nickname. An older Irish surname of the same spelling means devotee of Aodh.
Is Miley a real name?
Yes. It is on record from 1889, long before it became widely known.
Where does Miley Cyrus's name come from?
She was born Destiny Hope and called Smiley as a child, shortened to Miley, which she adopted legally in 2008.
How popular is Miley?
188th in Scotland and 214th in England and Wales, down from a 2008 American peak of 2,652 births.
Is Miley a girl's or a boy's name?
Miley is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Miley?
Miley has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Miley?
Miley is usually shortened to Mi.
Is Miley a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Miley currently ranks #188 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.