Take the popular Lily and add an M. Mix in our affection for vintage names like Hattie and Sadie, and it is no surprise that Millie is catching on.
The name’s resurgence first happened in the UK, where Millie ranks in the Top 50 across England, Ireland, and Scotland. In the US, Millie re-entered the US Top 1000 as an independent name in 2009, and cracked the US Top 100 in 2024.
Stranger Things star Millie Bobby Brown helped raise the name’s profile even farther. The young actress makes it clear that the name Millie has plenty of strength and poise.
There’s also Millie Mackintosh, star of British reality show Made in Chelsea and now a public figure in the UK. Canada gives us Odd Squad star Millie Davis.
World-famous mouse Minnie sometimes has a niece named Millie Mouse.
The popular name has been in the spotlight before. Broadway musical Thoroughly Modern Millie started out as a 1967 movie starring Julie Andrews. It’s set in 1922, the story of flapper Millie Dillmount who comes to New York City to find a wealthy husband. Or possibly love. It all ends happily. (Well, save for some painful racist stereotyping – common in the 1960s, shocking today.)
But what is Millie short for? Does it need to be short for anything? And if so, which formal names for Millie are the most wearable?
Read on for some possibilities!
Table of Contents
AMARYLLIS
A botanical route to Millie.
AMELIA and AMELIE
As nickname potential goes, Amelia rivals even Elizabeth and Katherine. There’s Mia and Amy and Mila, too. Why not Millie? The sound is there, even if the letters aren’t quite right.
The French form of Amelia, Amelie might be an even more obvious route to Millie.
CAMILA, CAMILLA, CAMILLE
Camille and Camilla and Camila combine literary and mythological roots, as well as a stylish sound. Each one is a feminine form of Camillus, a Roman family name. There’s the mythological Volscian warrior queen Camilla, as well as Alexandre Dumas’ tragic love story, a novel turned play turned movie. And, of course, there’s Camilla, Queen of England.
Camila sits near the top of the US popularity charts at the moment.
EMILIA and EMILY
Long-time chart-topper Emily has recently been replaced by Amelia sound-alike Emilia. But it’s Emily and Emilia that are closely related, along with names like Emiliana.
EMMELINE
The letters aren’t exactly right, but the sounds suggest that Millie would work as a short form. Emmeline returned to the US Top 1000 for the first time in recent years in 2014. Alternative spellings like Emeline, Emmaline, Emmalyn, and Emmalynn have all been seen, too.
JAMILA and JAMILAH
An Arabic name meaning beautiful.
MADELINE and MADELYN
Madeline is nearly always Maddie, but with that strong L sound, Millie works, too. Madelyn outranks Madeline in the US at the moment.
MARILLA
Any Anne of Green Gables fans?
MARY LEE
Combining a strong M first name with middle names Lee or Leigh could easily lead to a smoosh like Millie.
MATILDA
Matilda comes from the Germanic Amalaswinth or Amalswintha, from the elements amal – work – and swinth – strength. Over the years, it became Matilda. The obvious short forms for the name are Mattie and Tillie or Tilly, but Millie follows logically, too. Given all of the girls answering to Maddie thanks to the late 20th/early 21st century wave of Madelyns and Madisons, going a different route makes sense.
MELISANDE
The medieval Melisande is a big name for a small child, but Millie makes it quite wearable.
MELISSA
A smash hit from the 1960s into the 80s, Melissa has a classic charm that could wear well today. Factor in potential nickname Millie and it might be even more wearable today.
MILA, MILLA
Milla serves as the simplest way to transform Millie into a slightly more formal name. Mila works, too, but it’s generally pronounced with a long E sound: Mee-lah rather than MILL-ah.
MILAGROS
One of the titles of the Virgin Mary in Spanish is Our Lady of Miracles – Milagros. The first syllable makes Millie a potential nickname.
MILAN
Looking for a place name possibility that’s less common than London? How about the unisex Milan, as in the Italian fashion capital, and a Slavic name from milu – dear.
MILANA, MILANIA
Currently ranked in the 700s in the US, Milana might be an elaboration of Milan, related to the Slavic word meaning dear. Milania is another Mil- name to consider. They might also be related to Melanie/Melania/Milena, though those names have other possible origins and meanings, too.
MILDA, MILDE
Two variations of Mildred, Milla, or Matilda, still used in Latvia, Lithuania, and, at least in the past, Scandinavia.
MILDRED, MILDRID
Mildred might seem dated. A Top 100 staple in the late 19th century, Mildred went on to rank in the US Top Ten from 1903 through 1926. But it last appeared in the US Top 1000 in 1984, a name heading toward obscurity. And yet, this 2019 nursery tour from Apartment Therapy for a Mildrid could reframe the name’s image. The -id spelling is Scandi, and puts it in the same category as timeless Ingrid and Astrid. The meaning is lovely: gentle strength. 1970s R&B and soul singer Millie Jackson was born Mildred. So was Elvis Presley back-up singer Millie Kirkham.
MILENA
Cousin to popular Mila, Milena sounds like an elaboration, but has a history of independent use. Czech, Serbian, and Bulgarian offer similar names.
MILLER
Millie softens up Miller, or any other surname with the syllable Mil.
MILLICENT
There’s something sweet and lady-like about Millicent, a name that conjures up images of little girls in spotless white pinafores. The logical short form of Millicent, Millie energizes the name. Millicent could be a successor to Abigail and Charlotte.
MILLIE
In some cases, Millie is short for … Millie. Actress Millie Perkins is most famous for playing Anne Frank in 1959’s The Diary of Anne Frank. With a growing number of girls named Millie as a standalone name, this might be the most popular option now.
POMELINE
Like Emmeline, the sound is there.
ROMILLY
A rare French surname with a romantic sound, Romilly clearly includes the Millie sound.
WILHELMINA
A regal, Germanic feminine form of the evergreen William, Wilhelmina screams to be shortened. If Billie feels too boyish and Minnie too mouse, why not Millie?
YAMILET, YAMILETH
In Latin America, the Arabic Jamila – beautiful – became Yamilet and Yamileth.
So what is Millie short for? Do you have any favorite formal names for Millie?
This post was originally published on June 22, 2012. It was substantially revised and re-posted on October 12, 2015; October 13, 2019; July 18, 2023; August 16, 2024; and June 8, 2025.
I am a Emily nicknamed Milly and I am named after a great aunt named Mildred who died 4 years before I was born and her dying wish was to have a grand-something called Milly she got 2 me and my cousin Lucinda Mildred.
I’m a 28 year old Millie and I love my name! I’m christened Camilla and have always been called Camilla by my parents- but I’m Millie to everyone else… and have never had any problems with it.
Love Mildred and Millicent too…
I’m a teacher over here in the UK and there are lots of little Millies starting school… in fact I fear it may become too popular over here- sad!
I know many, many little girls named Millie here in the UK, and plenty of ’em have sisters called Maisie. It’s a cute name, and I once loved it.
Millie is a cute name, but I do think it needs a fuller form. My favorite is Millicent; I fell in love with that name as a child, when I read Robert Munsch’s “Millicent and the Wind”. I think I love Millicent so much I would rarely call her Millie 🙂
I was surprised to read here that Mila rhymes with Selah. Our friend’s daughter is Selah and it is pronounced SAY-la. I have also heard it said Say-LA, when read from the Bible. In general, the letter “e” is pronounced with an “ey” sound in many other languages (including Hebrew, which is Selah’s origin), as in “obey”. To get an “ee” sound, it’d be spelled with an ‘i’. Anyways, slightly off topic, but I wanted to give the correct pronunciation of Selah 🙂 It is a beautiful name!
I do like Millicent from this list!
Romilly is on my short list for a little girl, and I think it would be a natural if you want the nickname “Millie.” (Personally, I’d probably go with Ro or Romy instead, but I do like Millie too).
How strange to find oneself mentioned on the Internet! (Hi, friend!) Strangely enough, I stopped in wondering if Mildred had been covered here, yet–good timing, that.
Anyway, Mum wasn’t a fan of Millie, so I don’t think it’s ever been used for either of us. I don’t mind it, but Melina and I have a lot of mutual friends, and being known as either Emily and Millie or Millie and Melina blurs the lines between just a little too much. (-:
Hi Emily! I did wonder if you’d read my comment :o) I do think your parents had great naming taste when giving you girls names. I’m glad neither of you goes by a nickname, particularly Millie. We’re more of a full-given-name family ourselves.
Oh, and I hope you don’t mind the mention. I couldn’t resist.
I know someone named Milena; she’s the younger sister of an Emily and I’ve always enjoyed how the two sisters’ names were very distinct while still containing similar elements (Emily was named at least a decade before the name hit its boom in the mid-90s). Neither goes by Millie, but I thought I’d mention the duo since Milena popped up in this article.
As always, thanks for a great read!
Oh, I really like Millie and would use it intermittenly with Pom, for Pomeline or as a main nickname for Mathilda. Wilhelmina would get Mina from us, Dracula/vampire fans. 😀
But Pomeline still lingers on my list as a sister for Josephine. Maybe I’ll end up with a granddaughter named Pomeline, since both my boys know of my love of Pomeline. You never know! 😀
I babysat for an Emily who was called Milly by her baby brother. The nickname didn’t stick past her brother’s babyhood, but it’s a more captivating nickname than Em or Emmie.
Michaela and Michelle could also work as long forms for Milly.