| Mila | Danica | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Dear, gracious | Morning star |
| Origin | slavic | slavic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | MEE-lah | DAH-nee-kah |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1881 | 1916 |
| Peak year | 2018 (8,169) | 2007 (1,109) |
| In 2025 | 4,796 | 127 |
| Trend | Rising | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Mila | Danica |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 35,670 | 1,019 |
| 2010s | 44,114 | 4,591 |
| 2000s | 2,885 | 5,244 |
| 1990s | 311 | 2,382 |
| 1980s | 163 | 1,893 |
| 1970s | 206 | 1,051 |
| 1960s | 258 | 290 |
| 1950s | 230 | 42 |
| 1940s | 168 | 0 |
| 1930s | 142 | 0 |
| 1920s | 178 | 0 |
| 1910s | 99 | 10 |
| 1900s | 30 | 0 |
| 1890s | 25 | 0 |
| 1880s | 10 | 0 |
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.)
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.
Mila is more popular than Danica today: about 4,796 US babies were given the name Mila in 2025, compared with 127 named Danica.
Mila means Dear, gracious (slavic origin), while Danica means Morning star (slavic origin).
In US records, Mila first appears in 1881 and Danica in 1916, so Mila has the longer recorded history.