Head to head · Girls' names
Mila vs Willow
#43 vs #44 in 2025 · Slavic vs Old English roots
Mila is a whisker ahead (#43 vs #44 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Mila is stepping back from its peak, Willow is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Willow has the edge.
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, Mila leads 5 measures of 6; Willow 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: Mila #1055, Willow — — Mila higher
- 1890s: Mila #1312, Willow #1338 — Mila higher
- 1900s: Mila #1737, Willow #1714 — Willow higher
- 1910s: Mila #2323, Willow #2167 — Willow higher
- 1920s: Mila #2146, Willow #1709 — Willow higher
- 1930s: Mila #2257, Willow #1746 — Willow higher
- 1940s: Mila #2276, Willow #2231 — Willow higher
- 1950s: Mila #2299, Willow #3164 — Mila higher
- 1960s: Mila #2439, Willow #3565 — Mila higher
- 1970s: Mila #3426, Willow #1964 — Willow higher
- 1980s: Mila #4669, Willow #2920 — Willow higher
- 1990s: Mila #4285, Willow #1820 — Willow higher
- 2000s: Mila #1139, Willow #520 — Willow higher
- 2010s: Mila #97, Willow #134 — Mila higher
- 2020s: Mila #28, Willow #42 — Mila higher
Willow stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Mila has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mila | Willow |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #1055 | — |
| 1890s | #1312 | #1338 |
| 1900s | #1737 | #1714 |
| 1910s | #2323 | #2167 |
| 1920s | #2146 | #1709 |
| 1930s | #2257 | #1746 |
| 1940s | #2276 | #2231 |
| 1950s | #2299 | #3164 |
| 1960s | #2439 | #3565 |
| 1970s | #3426 | #1964 |
| 1980s | #4669 | #2920 |
| 1990s | #4285 | #1820 |
| 2000s | #1139 | #520 |
| 2010s | #97 | #134 |
| 2020s | #28 | #42 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Mila
- Canada#11
- Scotland#40
- England & Wales#46
- France#54
Willow
- England & Wales#21
- Scotland#27
- Canada#67
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Mila
dear, gracious, kind
The element mil- carries this sense across the Slavic languages. Worth knowing that Mila also reaches families by other roads: as a clipped form of Emilia, Camila or Amelia, and in Spanish-speaking families as a short form of Milagros, "miracles". The sound is the same; the family story behind it differs.
mil- (Slavic element: dear, gracious) → Milena / Ludmila → Mila
How it traveled
The root is Slavic: mil-, meaning dear or gracious, which appears in old compound names such as Miloslav, Bogumila, Ludmila and Milena. Mila began as the affectionate short form of those names and became a full given name in its own right across Serbia, Croatia, Russia, Poland and the Czech lands.
Willow
the willow tree
Straight from Old English welig, the name of the tree, cognate with Middle Dutch wilghe. The word came first; the name borrowed it.
welig (Old English) → wilwe (Middle English) → willow → Willow
How it traveled
The word traveled quietly through English on its own — welig in Old English, wilwe in Middle English, willow by the time it settled — naming the tree whose whippy shoots went into baskets, hurdles and, later, cricket bats. It came into use as a personal name in the same wave that gave English speakers Ivy, Hazel and Olive, when plant words were being lifted into the christening register.
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
Mila
MEE-lah
MEE-lah is the standard pronunciation and the one used in every language the name comes from. A second English pronunciation, MY-lah, circulates in the US, partly by analogy with the separate spelling Myla — so expect to correct people occasionally, whichever you choose.
- Millie — Informal; also a long-established given name in its own right in English, more often tied to Millicent or Amelia.
- Mimi — Household nickname rather than a formal one; used within families across several languages.
- Milka — The traditional Slavic diminutive of Mila, still used in Serbian and Croatian families.
- Mi — A one-syllable clip used informally; Mila is already short enough that many bearers use no nickname at all.
Willow
WIL-oh
Said exactly like the tree, stress on the first syllable. There is no competing pronunciation in English.
- Will — The usual informal shortening; also long established on its own as a short form of William, so it reads as unisex.
- Willo — An affectionate respelling used mostly within families and in writing rather than as a legal name.
- Willa — Sometimes used as a pet form, though it is a name in its own right, historically a short form of Wilhelmina.
Who has carried each name
Mila
Mila Kunis (b. 1983) — That '70s Show and Black Swan star
Willow
Willow Smith (b. 2000) — "Whip My Hair" singer, daughter of Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith
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 Mila if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMila is stepping back from its peak
- a name that charts abroad tooMila is on the national lists of Canada, Scotland, England & Wales and France
- a name that feels very nowMila is stepping back from its peak
Choose Willow if you want…
- a name on the way upup 4 places on the charts in five years
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 82% for Mila
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
Mila
Strengths
- Four letters, spelled the way it sounds in English, Spanish and most Slavic languages — rarely needs to be repeated or spelled out.
- Works as a standalone name or as the short form of Emilia, Camila, Amelia, Milena or Milagros, which gives a longer formal option if you want one.
- Charts in Canada, Scotland, England & Wales and France as well as the US, so it crosses borders without translation.
To consider
- Two pronunciations compete in the US, MEE-lah and MY-lah. Both are used; you will be the one who sets the default, and will sometimes have to reset it.
- It sits in a crowded sound-neighborhood — Mia, Milla, Myla, Ella, Layla, Amelia. Mail and roll calls may need a second look.
- The name's wave is genuinely recent, so nearly everyone who carries it in the US is a child. That reads young now and will simply read as a generation later on.
Willow
Strengths
- The spelling is the ordinary English word, so it rarely needs repeating and almost never gets written down wrong.
- Pronunciation is fixed by the word itself — anyone reading it aloud for the first time gets it right.
- In active use across the English-speaking world, charting in England and Wales, Scotland and Canada as well as the United States.
To consider
- Almost everyone carrying this name right now is a child. It has little adult track record yet, so it can be hard to picture on a business card.
- It belongs to a crowded field of one-word nature names, and may be grouped with them in conversation even where no other Willow is nearby.
- The weeping willow has an old association with grief in English literature — Desdemona's song, the tree over Ophelia's brook. Most people never make the link; a few will.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Mila
82%chance Mila feels dated by 2040
Mila is coming down from a big peak (#14 in 2018). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Willow
40%chance Willow feels dated by 2040
Willow 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.
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 Mila and Willow 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 Mila and Willow?
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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 Mila and Willow — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mila or Willow — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mila or Willow?
- Mila, in 2025: Mila ranked #43 with 4,796 babies; Willow ranked #44 with 4,763 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mila or Willow?
- Willow. Over the last five years Mila moved down 23 places; Willow moved up 4 places.
- Which is the older name, Mila or Willow?
- Mila entered the US charts in 1881; Willow entered the US charts in 1890. On the American record, Mila is the older name.
- How many people are named Mila and Willow?
- About 83,500 people named Mila are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 64,000 people named Willow are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Milas or Willows in the classroom?
- Mila will almost certainly be the only one in school. Willow 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
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