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