Head to head · Girls' names
Maeve vs Millie
#76 vs #73 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Millie is a whisker ahead (#73 vs #76 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
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, Millie leads 4 measures of 6; Maeve leads 1.
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: Maeve —, Millie #146 — Millie higher
- 1890s: Maeve —, Millie #189 — Millie higher
- 1900s: Maeve —, Millie #225 — Millie higher
- 1910s: Maeve —, Millie #263 — Millie higher
- 1920s: Maeve —, Millie #342 — Millie higher
- 1930s: Maeve —, Millie #406 — Millie higher
- 1940s: Maeve #3869, Millie #504 — Millie higher
- 1950s: Maeve #4478, Millie #670 — Millie higher
- 1960s: Maeve #4635, Millie #952 — Millie higher
- 1970s: Maeve #5712, Millie #1483 — Millie higher
- 1980s: Maeve #3129, Millie #2276 — Millie higher
- 1990s: Maeve #1453, Millie #2694 — Maeve higher
- 2000s: Maeve #678, Millie #1513 — Maeve higher
- 2010s: Maeve #442, Millie #529 — Maeve higher
- 2020s: Maeve #104, Millie #126 — Maeve higher
Millie stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Maeve has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maeve | Millie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #146 |
| 1890s | — | #189 |
| 1900s | — | #225 |
| 1910s | — | #263 |
| 1920s | — | #342 |
| 1930s | — | #406 |
| 1940s | #3869 | #504 |
| 1950s | #4478 | #670 |
| 1960s | #4635 | #952 |
| 1970s | #5712 | #1483 |
| 1980s | #3129 | #2276 |
| 1990s | #1453 | #2694 |
| 2000s | #678 | #1513 |
| 2010s | #442 | #529 |
| 2020s | #104 | #126 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Maeve
- Scotland#23
- England & Wales#26
- Canada#46
Millie
- Scotland#7
- England & Wales#27
- Canada#83
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Maeve
intoxicating, she who intoxicates
The Old Irish medb comes from the same root as the word for mead, the honey wine; the name is usually rendered "she who intoxicates" or "the intoxicating one."
Medb → Meadhbh → Méabh → Maeve
How it traveled
The name begins in Ireland as Medb, spelled Meadhbh in later Irish and Méabh in the modern simplified orthography. Its most famous bearer is the Medb of the Ulster Cycle, the Connacht queen whose demand for a prize bull sets the Táin Bó Cúailnge in motion — a story preserved in Irish manuscripts from the twelfth century onward.
Millie
Depends on the longer name behind it: 'gentle strength', 'work' or 'strong worker' are the usual readings
Millie is a short form of several unrelated names, so its meaning shifts with its parent. Through Mildred it goes back to Old English mild ('gentle') and þryð ('strength, power'). Through Millicent it traces to a Germanic name built on amal ('work, labor') and swinth ('strong'). Through Amelia and Emilia the roots are amal again, and the Roman family name Aemilius. Used on its own, as it very often is now, Millie carries no single settled meaning.
Mildþryð → Mildred → Millie
How it traveled
The name is English in its current shape, but the material behind it is older and came from more than one direction. Mildred is native Old English, borne by an Anglo-Saxon abbess and revived by Victorian parents with a taste for early English names.
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
Maeve
MAYV
One syllable, rhyming with cave and wave. The Irish spellings Méabh and Meadhbh are said the same way, which is why the anglicized form works so smoothly for English speakers.
- Mae — The most common short form, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Maevie — Affectionate and家 family-level; used with young children rather than in writing.
- Mave — Informal, sometimes just the way the full name gets clipped in speech.
Millie
MIL-ee
Stress on the first syllable, and no regional disagreement about it in English. The Millie/Milly spelling choice is the only thing that trips people up, not the sound.
- Millie — Now used as a full given name in its own right on birth records, as well as an informal short form of Mildred, Millicent, Amelia, Emilia and Camilla.
- Mills — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates; a surname-style nickname of the kind English speakers apply to short names.
- Mil — Very informal and family-only; rarely written down.
- Millie-Mae — A double form found in British usage, where hyphenated pairings with Millie are established.
Who has carried each name
Maeve
Maeve Binchy (b. 1939) — Beloved Irish storyteller (Circle of Friends)
Millie
Millie Bobby Brown (b. 2004) — Stranger Things' Eleven
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 Maeve if you want…
- a newer arrivalMaeve entered the US charts in 1940
Choose Millie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 117 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordMillie was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Maeve
Strengths
- Short and phonetic: an English reader gets it right on sight, without needing the Irish spelling explained.
- One syllable, so it needs no nickname to be usable — though Mae is there if a family wants one.
- A documented record stretching back to medieval Irish manuscripts, which is a longer paper trail than most names on the charts.
To consider
- It is climbing quickly. A child born now is unlikely to share a classroom with another Maeve, but the name will be more familiar by the time she is grown.
- Expect occasional misspellings — Mave, Maive, Meave — and the Irish forms Méabh and Meadhbh may come up if your family has ties to Ireland.
- The queen Medb of the Táin is a fierce, war-starting figure. Some parents love that; it is worth knowing the story before someone else tells you about it.
Millie
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and immediately readable — most people will say it correctly on first sight.
- Works either as a full legal name or as the everyday form of Amelia, Emilia, Millicent, Camilla or Mildred, which leaves the decision flexible.
- Currently charting in Scotland, England and Wales, and Canada as well as the United States, so it travels across English-speaking countries without explanation.
To consider
- Millie and Milly are both established, so expect a lifetime of spelling it out. Neither version is wrong, which is exactly what keeps the confusion going.
- It is climbing quickly. A name that is uncommon in classrooms now may be considerably more familiar by the time she starts school.
- As a diminutive by origin, it has no more formal register of its own. Some parents solve this by choosing a longer legal name and using Millie every day; others simply don't mind.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Maeve and Millie in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Maeve and Millie?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Two-syllable names, the American default
- all guides
Every list here names both Maeve and Millie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Maeve or Millie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maeve or Millie?
- Millie, in 2025: Millie ranked #73 with 3,353 babies; Maeve ranked #76 with 3,153 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maeve or Millie?
- Millie. Over the last five years Maeve moved up 98 places; Millie moved up 117 places.
- Which is the older name, Maeve or Millie?
- Maeve entered the US charts in 1940; Millie was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Millie is the older name.
- How many people are named Maeve and Millie?
- About 29,500 people named Maeve are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 29,000 people named Millie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maeves or Millies in the classroom?
- Maeve will almost certainly be the only one in school. Millie 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
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Maeve, Millie and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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