| Mila | Vera | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Dear, gracious | Faith; true |
| Origin | slavic | Slavic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | MEE-lah | VEER-uh |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1881 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 2018 (8,169) | 1918 (3,923) |
| In 2025 | 4,796 | 1,482 |
| Trend | Rising | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Mila | Vera |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 35,670 | 8,040 |
| 2010s | 44,114 | 9,052 |
| 2000s | 2,885 | 1,612 |
| 1990s | 311 | 869 |
| 1980s | 163 | 1,311 |
| 1970s | 206 | 2,258 |
| 1960s | 258 | 6,032 |
| 1950s | 230 | 11,041 |
| 1940s | 168 | 12,189 |
| 1930s | 142 | 18,023 |
| 1920s | 178 | 32,541 |
| 1910s | 99 | 28,289 |
| 1900s | 30 | 10,457 |
| 1890s | 25 | 6,377 |
| 1880s | 10 | 1,365 |
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.)
From the Slavic, “faith,” and echoing the Latin verus, “true.”
Mila is more popular than Vera today: about 4,796 US babies were given the name Mila in 2025, compared with 1,482 named Vera.
Mila means Dear, gracious (slavic origin), while Vera means Faith; true (Slavic origin).
In US records, Mila first appears in 1881 and Vera in 1880, so Vera has the longer recorded history.