| Danica | Mila | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Morning star | Dear, gracious |
| Origin | slavic | slavic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | DAH-nee-kah | MEE-lah |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1916 | 1881 |
| Peak year | 2007 (1,109) | 2018 (8,169) |
| In 2025 | 127 | 4,796 |
| Trend | Declining | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Danica | Mila |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,019 | 35,670 |
| 2010s | 4,591 | 44,114 |
| 2000s | 5,244 | 2,885 |
| 1990s | 2,382 | 311 |
| 1980s | 1,893 | 163 |
| 1970s | 1,051 | 206 |
| 1960s | 290 | 258 |
| 1950s | 42 | 230 |
| 1940s | 0 | 168 |
| 1930s | 0 | 142 |
| 1920s | 0 | 178 |
| 1910s | 10 | 99 |
| 1900s | 0 | 30 |
| 1890s | 0 | 25 |
| 1880s | 0 | 10 |
A South Slavic name meaning 'morning star', the personification of the planet Venus at dawn in Slavic folklore. The root is debated between a word for 'day/dawn' and related forms, but the 'morning star' sense is consistent across sources.
From the Slavic element mil 'dear, gracious, loving', used as a short form of names like Milena and Ludmila. (A separate Spanish Mila is a short form of Milagros 'miracles'; the love sense is Slavic.)
Mila is more popular than Danica today: about 4,796 US babies were given the name Mila in 2025, compared with 127 named Danica.
Danica means Morning star (slavic origin), while Mila means Dear, gracious (slavic origin).
In US records, Danica first appears in 1916 and Mila in 1881, so Mila has the longer recorded history.