Milford
A masculine given name from the Old English words "mill" and "ford", meaning "mill settlement".
Name Census estimates that about 2,203 living Americans carry the first name Milford. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Milford today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Milford births was 1921 (234 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Milford. 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
- • The typical person named Milford is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Milfords were born before 1963.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 155,585 Americans
Peak year
1921
234 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
2023 SSA rank
#4,083
Tracked since 1880
Census
Milford in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,172 people with the first name Milford, which placed it at #7,113 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
#7,113
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,172 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
75.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Milford
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milford is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3.0%). 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 Milford 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 Milford at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White75.0% · 1,630
- Black or African American17.9% · 388
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 65
- Two or more races2.2% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino1.3% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Milford
Out of the 8,211 babies given the name Milford since 1880, 99.8% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Milford as a male name
- Ranked #11,778 in 2023
- 6 male births in 2023
- Peak: 1921 (234 births)
Milford as a female name
- Ranked #4,083 in 1935
- 6 female births in 1935
- Peak: 1923 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Milford appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,170 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female.
Popularity
Milford: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Milford from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,179 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Milford 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 Milford during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Milfords live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. Alabama, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Milford, while Florida, North Dakota, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 146 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Milford
The name Milford is of English origin, derived from the Old English words "mil" meaning "mill" and "ford" meaning "a shallow place where a river or stream can be crossed." It was initially used to refer to a settlement near a mill or a ford over a river.
In the early medieval period, the name Milford was often used as a placename to describe villages or towns located near mills or fords. This practice was particularly common in England, where the name can be traced back to the 11th century. The earliest recorded use of the name Milford as a personal name dates back to the 13th century.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Milford was Sir Milford de Braose, a Norman knight who lived in the late 12th century. He was a prominent figure in the Welsh Marches and played a significant role in the conflicts between the English and the Welsh during the reign of King John.
Another notable figure with the name Milford was Milford Haven, a Welsh sailor and pirate who lived in the late 16th century. He was infamous for his raids on Spanish ships in the Caribbean and was eventually captured and executed in 1596.
In the 17th century, Milford Fletcher was a prominent English mathematician and astronomer. He was born in 1623 and made significant contributions to the fields of navigation and celestial mechanics.
During the 18th century, Milford Crow Pelham was a British politician and member of parliament. He was born in 1712 and served as the Secretary at War from 1756 to 1757.
In the 19th century, Milford Bard was an American poet and writer. He was born in 1819 and is best known for his romantic poetry and nature descriptions of the American wilderness.
While the name Milford has remained relatively uncommon as a first name, it has been used throughout history by individuals from various backgrounds and professions. Its connection to mills and fords reflects the importance of these structures in the development of settlements and communities in the past.
People
Milford + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Milford 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
Milford: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Milford?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,203 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Milford 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 155,585 US residents.
Is Milford a common name?
We classify Milford as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8,211 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Milford most popular?
The single biggest year for Milford was 1921, when 234 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Milford is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Milford in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,172 people with the name Milford, or 0.72 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,113 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 Milford 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 Milford?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Milford appears almost entirely male. Of the 2,170 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Milford?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Milford is White at 75.0%. The next largest groups are Black (17.9%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3.0%). 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 Milford most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Milford in the 2020 Census, accounting for 75.0% (1,630 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 Milford in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Milford a male name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Milford 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 Milford still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Milford 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 Milford 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 common is the name Milford?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Milford on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.