Milly
Feminine
Milly is a short form with several parents — Millicent, Amelia, Camilla, Emily — and each of them has an entirely different origin.
How old is the name Milly?
Milly first appears in US birth records in 1884 — 141 years ago. The typical Milly alive today was born around 2010, making them about 15 years old. About 2,800 people named Milly are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Milly most popular?
Milly peaked in 1884, reaching #686 nationally. Today it ranks #1777, 1,091 places below that high. See the whole 1884 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From amal swinth to Milly
The story of Milly
Millicent came to England with the Normans as Melisende — Melisende of Jerusalem ruled the crusader kingdom from 1131. Amelia, Camilla and Emily all produced Milly in English speech, and it was registered outright from the nineteenth century. It has returned to current use, particularly in Britain.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
A clipping rather than a word. Through Millicent it reaches the Germanic amal, 'work', and swinth, 'strength'. Through Amelia, the same amal. Through Camilla, a Roman altar attendant. Through Emily, the Roman Aemilius. Which parent applies is usually unrecoverable.
How the name formed
- amal swinth
- Millicent
- Milly
Related forms: Millie · Millicent · Mélisande
Pronouncing Milly
MIL-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first. Milly and Millie are said identically.
Nicknames for Milly
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
- 1884
- Most girls named
- 2008116 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #686reached in 1884
- Change vs 2023
- +2.7%113 in 2025, from 110
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.
Milly in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Millie in English — spelling variant
- Millicent in English — related form
- Mélisande in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Millys among us
people named Milly are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 14,224 born in 2025 was named Milly
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Milly
- #1777
- Milly on the 2025 chart
- #780
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Milly went to 113 girls in 2025, but Milli, Mili and Mily and the rest below are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 180, which makes it the 780th most-given girls’ name of the year — 997 places above the chart.
- Milly113
- Milli33
- Mili19
- Mily9
- Myli6
About 1 girl in 8,929 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 14,224 for Milly itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Milly 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Milly is headed
Milly should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Milly beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Milly in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Several substantial parent names can claim it, each with a real history.
- Melisende of Jerusalem is a genuinely formidable figure behind one route.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The parent name is genuinely ambiguous.
- Millie is the commoner spelling in American records.
- As a diminutive on the certificate it carries an informal register into adult life.
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Milly
Feminine · #1777 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Millys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,800 people named Milly are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Milly?
- Milly is the most-used spelling in US records — 113 of the 180 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Milli, Mili, Mily and Myli.
- How popular is the name Milly in 2025?
- Milly ranks #1777 among US girl names in 2025, with 113 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Milly?
- About 1 in every 14,224 US girls born in 2025 was named Milly — 113 in all.
- Will my child share the name Milly with classmates?
- Milly will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Milly
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Adore#1777 · Tess#1777 · Arizbeth#1777 · Jalayah#1777 · Katarina#1777 · Cosette#1777 · Yesly#1777 · Ronnie#1777
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Milly? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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