Milda
Feminine
Milda is a Lithuanian goddess of love, and whether she is ancient or was invented in the nineteenth century is a genuine and unresolved argument — which makes her a good case study in how national traditions get assembled.
How old is the name Milda?
Milda first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Milda alive today was born around 1922, making them about 103 years old. About 200 people named Milda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Milda most popular?
Milda peaked in 1896, reaching #903 nationally. See the whole 1896 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Milda
When a small nation sets about recovering its own past, the recovery and the invention are hard to tell apart. Nineteenth-century Lithuanian writers, working to establish that their language and religion were ancient and distinct, collected and published a pantheon of old gods — and some of those gods appear in no source older than the collection itself. Milda is one of the doubtful ones: attested late, absent from the early records, plausible in form. She now has a street, a month in some calendars and a considerable number of namesakes, which makes the question of her authenticity academic in every sense. A name can become real by being used, whatever its paperwork says.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Two roads. In Lithuania the name belongs to a goddess named in nineteenth-century collections of folklore; in German-speaking families it is a short form of Mathilde. Neither can be ruled out for an American bearer of the eighteen-nineties, and the two have nothing to do with each other.
Pronouncing Milda
MIL-duh
Two syllables, stress at the front. Lithuanian says it the same way with a clearer final vowel.
Nicknames for Milda
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1888
- Most girls named
- 191933 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #903reached in 1896
- Change vs 1968
- 0.0%5 in 1973, from 5
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Milda in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Milda in Lithuanian — same name
- Mathilde in German — related form
Mildas among us
people named Milda are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Milda sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, firm and easy for anybody to say.
- It carries a real national tradition for families with a connection to it.
- The spelling is unambiguous.
- It will be heard as Hilda, Milda or Melba, which are all close by.
- The name belongs strongly to one American era.
- The goddess behind it may be a nineteenth-century reconstruction, which is worth knowing.
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Milda
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Mildas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Milda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Milda in 2025?
- Milda is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Milda with classmates?
- Milda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Milda? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Milda and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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