| Milena | Nadia | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Gracious, dear | hope |
| Origin | Slavic | slavic |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | mee-LEH-nah | NAH-dee-ah |
| Syllables | 3 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1918 | 1911 |
| Peak year | 2019 (428) | 2005 (1,923) |
| In 2025 | 271 | 531 |
| Trend | Rising | Declining |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Milena | Nadia |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 2,083 | 3,818 |
| 2010s | 3,218 | 9,868 |
| 2000s | 1,351 | 15,665 |
| 1990s | 457 | 7,134 |
| 1980s | 239 | 5,533 |
| 1970s | 231 | 3,076 |
| 1960s | 94 | 536 |
| 1950s | 39 | 355 |
| 1940s | 26 | 157 |
| 1930s | 0 | 166 |
| 1920s | 6 | 151 |
| 1910s | 5 | 97 |
Milena comes from the Slavic mil, “gracious,” “dear” or “loving.”
A Slavic name derived from Russian/Bulgarian Nadezhda, from Old Slavic for 'hope' (Proto-Slavic root naděja). Originally a diminutive of Nadezhda, it is widely used as a given name in its own right. Note: a separate Arabic name Nadiyyah ('tender, delicate') is sometimes conflated with it but is an unrelated root.
Nadia is more popular than Milena today: about 531 US babies were given the name Nadia in 2025, compared with 271 named Milena.
Milena means Gracious, dear (Slavic origin), while Nadia means hope (slavic origin).
In US records, Milena first appears in 1918 and Nadia in 1911, so Nadia has the longer recorded history.