Mila Scandinavian??

[swendy]

I have been looking at the origina of Mila and it of course stems from many places, including Scandinavia (Finland, Denmark, Sweden etc). Does the name sound Scandinavian to you?

[katushka]

Mila's one of those wonderful names that kind of fits in everywhere. There are very few places I can think of where it would sound out of place. So, it doesn't sound as Scandinavian as Embla (just the first one that came to me, sorry if it's wrong) to me, but it doesn't sound like it isn't. Either way, it's a beautiful name!

[gwensmom]

No, I'm surprised to hear it has Scandinavian roots. It sounds eastern European to me. But I agree with pp that it has such a sweet sound that it does fit in everywhere.

[mischa]

I think of Mila as being more Slavic in origin than Scandinavian (the Slavic meaning is "loved by the people"). Although it's perfectly fine on its own, Mila is often a short form for Milena, Milada, Miloslava or Milana. With the continued homogenization of the world (including naming practices), Mila is a name that can travel anywhere.

[sylfessev]

Mila means as in someone (a girl) whom is likable, sweet, amiable, loved. At least that is what it means in my language. Mila in a name is awkward to me, because of its straightforward meaning, so I wouldn't opt to name my child that.

[lineska]

I too think of it as more Slavic than scandinavian, although it certainly travels well.

All the Mila's I know (several actually!) are Milena's from either Poland or Bulgaria.

[dantea]

I always thought of it as Russian or Scandinavian or maybe Slavic. It just sounds that way. Very beautiful name ^_^

[l in boston]

I have always thought of it as short for names like Milena or Ludmila -- Slavic, but not Scandinavian.

The Wikipedia entry says "It is a diminutive of Slavic names beginning or ending with Mila which derived from the element Мил Mil meaning 'gracious, dear'."

If you look at these statistics for Mila in Scandinavia (see the bottom of the page), it is clear that only very recently has it been used much in those countries. Having said that, it is a name that works beautifully in a lot of languages.

[emiliaj]

Mila matches well with Liv either way!

[norseberry]

Mila is Slavic. Mia has Scandinavian roots though.