Mila
Top 1000
About Mila
Mila is a popular name that took a 125 year nap, ranking in the Top 1000 in 1881 and then not ranking again until 2006, after actress Mila Kunis appeared on That 70s Show.
Ukrainian-born Kunis was named Milena, and indeed Mila originated as a short form for names such as Ludmila, Milena, and Milica. Mila can be a nickname for any name containing the element mil, meaning "gracious" or "dear."
Mila has ranked in the Top 100 in the US for a decade now, and is firmly established as a modern classic along with popular sister Mia. Mila has also found a good measure of international popularity, ranking highly throughout the English-speaking world and in several Eastern European countries along with Germany, Switzerland, and even Chile.
It's also a versatile nickname: former President Bush's daughter Jenna named her daughter Margaret Laura, after the child's two grandmothers, called Mila.
Pronounced MEE-luh.
As of October 2026, Mila ranked #43 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #14 in 2018, Nameberry popularity #263.
Editor's take: The name Mila is a girl's name of Russian origin meaning "gracious; dear".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #72 | 4,064 | 2,275 |
| 2015 | #53 | 4,733 | 2,651.4 |
| 2016 | #48 | 4,830 | 2,725.7 |
| 2017 | #30 | 5,974 | 3,460.3 |
| 2018 | #14 | 8,167 | 4,801.1 |
| 2019 | #19 | 7,341 | 4,373.9 |
| 2020 | #20 | 6,642 | 4,108.8 |
| 2021 | #26 | 6,336 | 3,861.4 |
| 2022 | #18 | 6,485 | 3,954 |
| 2023 | #28 | 5,913 | 3,685.1 |
| 2024 | #33 | 5,472 | 3,377.4 |
| 2025 | #43 | 4,796 | 2,983.9 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Mila.
Mila on lists
Famous Milas
- Milena Markovna "Mila" Kunis
Ukrainian,American actress
- Milica "Mila" Mulroney
Bosnian,born wife of former Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney
- Mila J (born Jamila Aiko Aba Chilombo)
American singer, rapper and dancer
- Mila Frances Tupper Maynard
American Unitarian minister and suffragist
- Mila Gojsalić
Croatian folk heroine
- Mila Horvat
Croatian TV presenter
- Mila Mason
American country music singer
- Mila Roselena Jones (b. 2002)
daughter of actors Alicia Coppola and Anthony Michael Jones
- Mila Seikaly (b. 2003)
daughter of model Elsa Benitez and basketball player Rony Seikaly
- Mila Rose Amaia Mitchell (b. 2009)
daughter of actor Benjamin Mitchell
- Margaret Laura "Mila" Hager (b. 2013)
daughter of Jenna Bush Hager; granddaughter of former President George W. Bush
- Mila Elizabeth Kissel (b. 2016)
daughter of country music singer Brett Kissel
- Milena "Mila" Cohen (b. 2016)
daughter of dancer Kristina Rihanoff and Ben Cohen
Mila in pop culture
- Mila Valentia
character in video game "Skyrim"
- Mila Babicheva
character in anime "Yuri on Ice"
- Melania "Mila" Borejko
character in book series "Jezycjada" by Malgorzata Musierowicz
- Mila 18
novel by Leon Uris
- Mila
main character in "Picture Me Gone" by Meg Rosoff
- Mila
main character in The Music of Dolphins by Karen Hesse
- "Mila Superstar
" anime series and its main character
- Mila
character on TV's "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine"
- Mila
character in video game "Dead or Alive 5"
- Mila
character in video game "Hotel Dusk: Room 215"