| Boris | Milan | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Battle, fight | Dear, loving |
| Origin | Slavic | slavic |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | BOR-iss | MEE-lahn |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1911 | 1885 |
| Peak year | 1970 (82) | 2024 (1,554) |
| In 2025 | 37 | 1,418 |
| Trend | Declining | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Boris | Milan |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 230 | 7,056 |
| 2010s | 507 | 5,073 |
| 2000s | 581 | 1,248 |
| 1990s | 603 | 831 |
| 1980s | 401 | 439 |
| 1970s | 481 | 451 |
| 1960s | 597 | 432 |
| 1950s | 287 | 537 |
| 1940s | 111 | 529 |
| 1930s | 237 | 617 |
| 1920s | 373 | 881 |
| 1910s | 213 | 479 |
| 1900s | 0 | 24 |
| 1890s | 0 | 5 |
| 1880s | 0 | 6 |
Boris is usually linked to the Slavic for “battle” or “fight.”
A Slavic name from the element mil 'kind, dear, loving, gracious', originally a short form of longer Mil- names. (An unrelated South Asian Milan from Sanskrit milana 'union, meeting' also exists; the love sense is the Slavic one.)
Milan is more popular than Boris today: about 1,418 US babies were given the name Milan in 2025, compared with 37 named Boris.
Boris means Battle, fight (Slavic origin), while Milan means Dear, loving (slavic origin).
In US records, Boris first appears in 1911 and Milan in 1885, so Milan has the longer recorded history.