Milad
An Arabic name meaning "birth" or "birthday celebration".
Name Census estimates that about 438 living Americans carry the first name Milad. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Milad today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Milad births was 2022 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Milad. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Milad with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
438
~ 1 in 782,544 Americans
Peak year
2022
18 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,341
Tracked since 1987
Census
Milad in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,594 people with the first name Milad, which placed it at #8,924 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,924
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,594 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Milad
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milad is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Milad described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Milad at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.2% · 1,278
- Two or more races8.8% · 140
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.5% · 136
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 27
- Black or African American0.8% · 13
Popularity
Milad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Milad from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 127 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Milad remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Milad by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Milad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Milads live
Origin
Meaning and history of Milad
The name Milad finds its origins in the Arabic language, with roots tracing back to the 7th century CE, the early days of Islam. It is derived from the Arabic word "milad," which means "birth" or "birthday," signifying the name's association with the celebration of life and new beginnings.
In Islamic tradition, Milad holds a sacred significance as it refers to the birth of the Prophet Muhammad, which is commemorated annually through the observance of Milad al-Nabi or the Prophet's Birthday. This celebration is widely observed across the Muslim world, highlighting the name's deep-rooted connection to religious and cultural traditions.
The earliest recorded use of the name Milad can be found in historical accounts and literary works from the medieval Islamic world. One notable example is the renowned Persian poet Jalal al-Din Rumi, who lived from 1207 to 1273 CE, and whose full name was Jalal al-Din Muhammad Rumi, with Milad being part of his name.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Milad. One such individual was Milad bin Malik, a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and a revered figure in early Islamic history. Another prominent bearer of the name was Milad al-Hariri, a celebrated 12th-century Arabic poet and scholar known for his literary contributions.
In more recent times, Milad Hanna (1924-1988) was an influential Egyptian Coptic Christian intellectual and writer who played a significant role in shaping modern Arabic literature. Milad Amin (1927-2010) was a renowned Egyptian actor and comedian, renowned for his comedic performances on stage and in films.
Additionally, Milad Doueihi (born 1958) is a prominent Lebanese-American scholar and author, known for his work on digital humanities and the impact of technology on culture and society.
While the name Milad may have Islamic roots, it has transcended religious boundaries and has been adopted by various cultures and communities around the world, each imbuing it with their own unique cultural significance and associations.
People
Milad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Milad as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Milad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Milad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 438 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Milad going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 782,544 US residents.
Is Milad a common name?
We classify Milad as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 444 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Milad most popular?
The single biggest year for Milad was 2022, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Milad is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Milad in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,594 people with the name Milad, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,924 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Milad in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Milad?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Milad leans strongly male. 1,525 people counted with this name were male (95.6%), compared with 71 female bearers (4.4%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Milad?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milad is White at 80.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (8.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Milad most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Milad in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.2% (1,278 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Milad in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Milad a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Milad in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Milad still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Milad in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Milad can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Milad?
Want to know how many Americans are named Milad? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.