Milessa
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "sweet as honey".
Name Census estimates that about 85 living Americans carry the first name Milessa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Milessa today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Milessa births was 1971 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Milessa. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Milessa. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
85
~ 1 in 4,032,404 Americans
Peak year
1971
10 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1987 SSA rank
#12,552
Tracked since 1967
Census
Milessa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 135 people with the first name Milessa, which placed it at #47,903 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
#47,903
National first-name rank
People counted
135
135 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Milessa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milessa is White at 60.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.8%) and Black (14.1%). 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 Milessa 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 Milessa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.7% · 82
- Hispanic or Latino17.8% · 24
- Black or African American14.1% · 19
- Two or more races5.2% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 1
Popularity
Milessa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Milessa from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 60 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Milessa 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 Milessa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Milessa
The given name Milessa is believed to have its roots in the ancient Greek language, originating around the 5th century BC in the region of Miletus, an ancient Greek city located on the western coast of Anatolia. The name is derived from the Greek word "melissa," which means "honeybee" or "honey-sweet." This connection to honey and sweetness is thought to have been a symbolic representation of a desirable feminine quality.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Milessa can be found in the works of the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes, who lived from 446 BC to 386 BC. In his comedic play "The Frogs," he makes a passing reference to a character named Milessa, suggesting that the name was in use during that time period.
Throughout the centuries, the name Milessa has been borne by a number of notable historical figures. In the 2nd century AD, Milessa of Smyrna was a renowned philosopher and teacher who was highly respected for her wisdom and intellect. She is mentioned in the writings of the philosopher Lucian of Samosata.
During the Byzantine era, Milessa Comnena was a prominent noble woman who lived in the 11th century. She was a member of the influential Comnenus dynasty and played a significant role in the political and cultural life of the Byzantine Empire.
In the 16th century, Milessa Petyt was an English writer and translator who gained recognition for her work on translating religious texts from Latin and Greek into English. Her translations were widely circulated and influential during the Protestant Reformation.
Another notable figure with the name Milessa was Milessa Branagh, an Irish actress and writer who lived in the late 18th century. She was known for her performances on the stage in Dublin and her contributions to Irish literature.
In more recent times, Milessa Munoz was a pioneering Latina artist and activist from the United States, born in 1940. She was celebrated for her vibrant paintings and her advocacy for the rights of women and marginalized communities.
While the name Milessa is not as common today as it once was, its rich history and connections to ancient Greek culture, literature, and philosophy have left an enduring legacy. The name continues to evoke a sense of sweetness, grace, and intellectual curiosity.
People
Milessa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Milessa 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
Milessa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Milessa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 85 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Milessa 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 4,032,404 US residents.
Is Milessa a common name?
We classify Milessa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 94 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Milessa most popular?
The single biggest year for Milessa was 1971, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Milessa is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Milessa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 135 people with the name Milessa, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,903 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 Milessa 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 Milessa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Milessa appears almost entirely female. Of the 129 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Milessa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milessa is White at 60.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.8%) and Black (14.1%). 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 Milessa most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Milessa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.7% (82 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 Milessa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Milessa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Milessa in the SSA data are female. 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 Milessa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Milessa 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 Milessa 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 are named Milessa?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.