| Danica | Milena | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Morning star | Gracious, dear |
| Origin | slavic | Slavic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | DAH-nee-kah | mee-LEH-nah |
| Syllables | 3 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1916 | 1918 |
| Peak year | 2007 (1,109) | 2019 (428) |
| In 2025 | 127 | 271 |
| Trend | Declining | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Danica | Milena |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 1,019 | 2,083 |
| 2010s | 4,591 | 3,218 |
| 2000s | 5,244 | 1,351 |
| 1990s | 2,382 | 457 |
| 1980s | 1,893 | 239 |
| 1970s | 1,051 | 231 |
| 1960s | 290 | 94 |
| 1950s | 42 | 39 |
| 1940s | 0 | 26 |
| 1920s | 0 | 6 |
| 1910s | 10 | 5 |
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.
Milena comes from the Slavic mil, “gracious,” “dear” or “loving.”
Milena is more popular than Danica today: about 271 US babies were given the name Milena in 2025, compared with 127 named Danica.
Danica means Morning star (slavic origin), while Milena means Gracious, dear (Slavic origin).
In US records, Danica first appears in 1916 and Milena in 1918, so Danica has the longer recorded history.