Milo
Masculine · Greek roots · “Most likely "dear”
Milo is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 43,847 boys against 466 girls since 1880.
Milo has been read aloud for a very long time: the ancient Greek wrestler Milo of Croton carried it, and Norman scribes wrote it into medieval English records, where it eventually settled into Miles. Two syllables, four letters, an open vowel at the front and a rounded one at the end — it lands the same way in English and in French, which is part of why both countries are using it now.
How old is the name Milo?
Milo was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Milo is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 38,000 people named Milo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Milo most popular?
Milo peaked in 2025, reaching #119 nationally. Today it ranks #119, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From Milon (Greek) to Milo
The story of Milo
The name surfaces first in Greek as Milon, then again — apparently independently — in the medieval Latin of continental Europe, where Milo was a common written form for men of Frankish and Norman families. The Normans brought it to England, where clerks kept writing Milo in Latin documents while the spoken form drifted toward Miles and Myles, and those became the everyday English names for centuries. Milo itself stayed a bookish, Latin-page form for a long stretch, then came back into ordinary use in English-speaking countries as a name in its own right. It is also cousin to the Slavic family of Milan, Miloš and Miloslav, which kept the mil- element alive across Central and Eastern Europe without ever passing through Latin.
Meaningscholars disagree
Most likely "dear, gracious" — though a competing reading ties it to the Latin for "soldier"
One line connects Milo to the Slavic and Germanic element mil-, "dear, gracious," the same root behind Milan and Miloš. Another links it to Latin miles, "soldier," which is certainly how medieval Latin readers understood it — that association is what turned Milo into the English Miles. A third strand simply points back to Greek Milon, the name of the Croton wrestler. Scholars have not chosen between them.
Cultural footprint
Milo Ventimiglia (b. 1977) — This Is Us's Jack Pearson
Milo of Croton (b. -554) — Legendary six-time Olympic wrestling champion of ancient Greece
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
How the name formed
- MilonGreek
- Milomedieval Latin
- Miles
- Myles
Related forms: Milo · Milo · Miles · Myles · Miloš · Milan
Pronouncing Milo
MY-loh
Stress on the first syllable in English. French speakers say it closer to mee-LOH, with the weight at the end, so a child with French-speaking relatives may answer to both.
Nicknames for Milo
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 20223,115 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #119reached in 2025
- Change vs 2022
- −4.5%2,974 in 2025, from 3,115
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.
Milo in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Milo in French — same name
- Milo in German — same name
- Miles in English — related form
- Myles in English / Irish — spelling variant
- Miloš in Czech — related form
- Milan in Serbian / Croatian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York. INSEE rounds every published count to the nearest five for statistical confidentiality; the ranks are calculated from the exact figures. International figures from INSEE, Office for National Statistics. Sources
Milos among us
people named Milo are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 574 born in 2025 was named Milo
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Milo
- #119
- Milo on the 2025 chart
- #110
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Milo went to 2,974 boys in 2025, but Mylo and Miloh are the same name said out loud. Together the 5 spellings went to 3,381, which makes it the 110th most-given boys’ name of the year — 9 places above the chart.
- Milo2,974
- Mylo357
- Miloh32
and 2 rarer spellings.
About 1 boy in 505 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 574 for Milo 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
The Andre test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Milo's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Andre climbed just as high around 1984, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Andre's path sketches the road Milo is walking now.
Milo 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 Milo is headed
Milo should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High 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.
Milo beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Milo in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Already as short as it goes — no nickname is required, and none has to be defended.
- Spelled the way it sounds, and short enough that most people get it right on the first hearing.
- A written record stretching from ancient Greece through Norman England to the present day.
- Works unchanged in French and German, and is currently in use in France and in England & Wales as well as the US.
- Comes with a ready-made longer relative, Miles, if a more formal register is ever wanted.
- Milo is the name of a malted chocolate drink sold widely in Australia, Southeast Asia and West Africa. Anyone who grew up with the green tin will think of it first — usually fondly, but they will mention it.
- It sits in a crowded field of short boys' names ending in -o, so a classroom may hold a Leo, a Theo and an Otto alongside him, and adults will occasionally reach for the wrong one.
- The wave behind this name is very recent, so most Milos are young children right now. Expect it to sound more common as that whole cohort grows up together.
- Mylo turns up as an alternative spelling, which means the occasional 'is that with an i or a y?' at the doctor's desk.
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What they receive
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Milo
Masculine · Greek roots · #119 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Milos are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 38,000 people named Milo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Milo?
- Milo is the most-used spelling in US records — 2,974 of the 3,381 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Mylo and Miloh.
- How popular is the name Milo in 2025?
- Milo ranks #119 among US boy names in 2025, with 2,974 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Milo?
- About 1 in every 574 US boys born in 2025 was named Milo — 2,974 in all.
- Will my child share the name Milo with classmates?
- Milo will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Milo
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Graham#120 · Callum#118 · Emmett#121 · Lorenzo#117 · Harrison#116 · Sawyer#122 · Jaxon#115 · Giovanni#123
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Milo? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Milo and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration; international figures from national statistics agencies. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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