Head to head · Boys' names
Adonis vs Milan
#241 vs #242 in 2025
Adonis is a whisker ahead (#241 vs #242 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Adonis is holding its place on the charts, Milan is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Milan has the edge.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Adonis leads 4 measures of 6; Milan leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Adonis —, Milan #836 — Milan higher
- 1890s: Adonis —, Milan #1066 — Milan higher
- 1900s: Adonis —, Milan #1225 — Milan higher
- 1910s: Adonis #4179, Milan #846 — Milan higher
- 1920s: Adonis #3724, Milan #686 — Milan higher
- 1930s: Adonis #3613, Milan #795 — Milan higher
- 1940s: Adonis #3525, Milan #921 — Milan higher
- 1950s: Adonis #2704, Milan #1011 — Milan higher
- 1960s: Adonis #2576, Milan #1172 — Milan higher
- 1970s: Adonis #1465, Milan #1314 — Milan higher
- 1980s: Adonis #1359, Milan #1549 — Adonis higher
- 1990s: Adonis #883, Milan #1310 — Adonis higher
- 2000s: Adonis #814, Milan #1247 — Adonis higher
- 2010s: Adonis #565, Milan #680 — Adonis higher
- 2020s: Adonis #215, Milan #308 — Adonis higher
Milan stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Adonis has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Adonis | Milan |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #836 |
| 1890s | — | #1066 |
| 1900s | — | #1225 |
| 1910s | #4179 | #846 |
| 1920s | #3724 | #686 |
| 1930s | #3613 | #795 |
| 1940s | #3525 | #921 |
| 1950s | #2704 | #1011 |
| 1960s | #2576 | #1172 |
| 1970s | #1465 | #1314 |
| 1980s | #1359 | #1549 |
| 1990s | #883 | #1310 |
| 2000s | #814 | #1247 |
| 2010s | #565 | #680 |
| 2020s | #215 | #308 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Adonis
Not charting outside the US.
Milan
- Canada#94
- France#99
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Adonis
lord
The Greek name comes from the Semitic title ʼadōn, "lord" — the same root behind Hebrew Adonai. In Greek it stopped being a title and became the name of a single mythological youth.
ʼadōn (Semitic, "lord") → Adōnis (Greek) → Adonis (Latin) → Adonis (English)
How it traveled
Adonis began as a Semitic word for "lord" and crossed into Greek as the name of a beautiful young hunter loved by Aphrodite and killed by a wild boar — a figure worshipped in rites of mourning and renewal around the eastern Mediterranean. The archaic Greek poet Sappho left a surviving fragment lamenting him, and the Romans carried the story on in Latin.
Milan
Dear, gracious, kind — from the Slavic element mil-
Two different names share this spelling. The Slavic given name is built on mil- 'dear, gracious', the same element behind Milena, Miloš and Milica; that reading is well established. But some American parents take the name from the Italian city, whose own name goes back to Latin Mediolanum, usually read as 'in the middle of the plain'. Which meaning belongs to a particular child depends entirely on which road the family walked in on.
mil- (Slavic element, 'dear, gracious') → Milan
How it traveled
Milan is one of the old Slavic compound-style names, rooted in mil- 'dear', and it has been in continuous use as a man's name in the Czech lands, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia and Croatia for many centuries. Quite separately, English speakers have long called the Lombard city Milano by the shorter form Milan, so the word was already familiar in America as a place before it was common as a name.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Adonis
uh-DON-iss
Also heard as uh-DOH-nis, with a long middle vowel. Modern Greek stresses the first syllable instead: AH-thoh-nees. In Spanish it is ah-DOH-nees.
- Don — Informal short form; also a long-established given name in its own right.
- Addy — Informal, used mostly by family and in early childhood; shared with Adam and Adrian.
- Donnie — Informal and affectionate; stands alone as a given name for older generations.
- Adi — Informal short form, common where the name is used in Spanish-speaking families.
Milan
mee-LAHN
Most American families say mee-LAHN, like the city. Czech, Slovak and Serbian speakers stress the first syllable: MEE-lahn. Both are correct for the name; expect to state your preference more than once.
- Mila — The most portable short form; also a fully established given name of its own, most often for girls.
- Mile — The standard informal short form in Serbian and Croatian, where it also stands alone as a man's name.
- Milo — Used informally in English-speaking households, though Milo is a separate given name in its own right.
- Mio — An affectionate family-level shortening, not much used outside the home.
Who has carried each name
Adonis
No documented entry for Adonis yet.
Milan
Milan Kundera (b. 1929) — Wrote The Unbearable Lightness of Being
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Adonis if you want…
- a name holding steadyAdonis is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itAdonis runs 3 syllables, Milan 2
Choose Milan if you want…
- a name on the way upup 189 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMilan is 2 syllables to Adonis's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMilan is on the national lists of Canada and France
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Adonis
Strengths
- A spelling almost everyone has already seen, in myth, in Shakespeare, or in the dictionary — rarely needs to be spelled out twice.
- Works unchanged in Spanish, French and Portuguese, which matters in the regions where it is strongest.
- Yields Don and Donnie, short forms that have stood alone as names for generations.
To consider
- In English, "an adonis" is a plain-language term for a very handsome man. Most people will make that connection at least once, and a boy may hear comments about his looks framed by his name — worth knowing in advance.
- The myth itself ends badly: Adonis is gored by a boar and mourned. It is a love story and a death story at the same time, which some families find rich and others would rather not carry.
- Two pronunciations circulate in the US, uh-DON-iss and uh-DOH-nis, so expect to correct people occasionally or simply to accept both.
Milan
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and spelled the way it sounds in most European languages — one of the easier names to carry across borders.
- Also charts in Canada and France, so it is recognizable well beyond US records.
- Centuries of unbroken use across Czech, Slovak, Serbian, Croatian and Slovene naming, which gives it real depth behind a modern-sounding surface.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, mee-LAHN and MEE-lahn, both legitimate. Families with Slavic roots may say it one way and teachers another, and the correction becomes a small lifelong habit.
- Many people will hear the Italian city first and assume the name is a travel souvenir. That is a fine story if it is yours, and slightly tiring if it isn't.
- This spelling goes mostly to boys in US records, with a real minority of girls. A girl named Milan will meet forms and rosters that guessed wrong, which is manageable but worth expecting.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Adonis
40%chance Adonis feels dated by 2040
Adonis sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Milan
56%chance Milan feels dated by 2040
Milan is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Adonis and Milan in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Three-syllable names with room to move
- Hero and god names for boys
- Names ending in -s
- Names ending in -is
- all guides
Where Adonis and Milan each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Adonis or Milan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Adonis or Milan?
- Adonis, in 2025: Adonis ranked #241 with 1,462 babies; Milan ranked #242 with 1,418 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Adonis or Milan?
- Milan. Over the last five years Adonis moved down 18 places; Milan moved up 189 places.
- Which is the older name, Adonis or Milan?
- Adonis entered the US charts in 1918; Milan entered the US charts in 1885. On the American record, Milan is the older name.
- How many people are named Adonis and Milan?
- About 21,500 people named Adonis are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 16,000 people named Milan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adoniss or Milans in the classroom?
- Adonis will almost certainly be the only one in school. Milan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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