The baby name Mileva is a medieval rarity that might appeal to parents naming a daughter now.
Thanks to Charlotte for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
MEDIEVAL MILEVA
During the fourteenth century, Lazar of Serbia ruled a powerful state. It wasn’t exactly the Serbian Empire, but it was, more or less, what remained of the short-lived territory. Lazar died in battle against the invading Ottoman armies, who would eventually take over the land.
Lazar’s youngest daughter, Maria Olivera, would eventually marry an Ottoman sultan as a pledge of peace.
Maria Olivera was sometimes known by a contracted form of her first and middle names.
She was also referred to by her Ottoman title, Despina, and name, Hatun.
Mileva and her husband were captured by Timur, who built an empire of his own in Central Asia. Their story is told across the years, famously in Christopher Marlowe’s Tamburlaine, in which she’s renamed Zabina.
Still, Mil- names are common in Slavic languages. Mileva’s mother was Milica. Milena was the birth name of Mila Kunis. And names like Radmila end with the element, which most often comes from milu, meaning gracious or dear.
MILEVA EINSTEN
Fast-forward a few centuries, and we find the most famous Mileva of our time
Mileva Marić is best remembered as the first Mrs. Albert Einstein.
She must have been brilliant. While her family’s wealth and connections fostered her ambitions, Mileva enrolled in schools almost exclusively reserved for men. Studying mathematics and physics required “special exemptions” even after she’d passed the entrance exams with high marks.
Eventually, Mileva studied at Zurich Polytechnic with Albert Einstein. The former classmates married in 1903. They had two sons together, but their marriage ultimately ended in divorce.
Her life, post-Einstein, proved difficult. Their younger son suffered from serious health problems, and Mileva devoted her life to the care of her children.
Some contend that Maric’s contributions to Einstein’s work were so significant that she deserves credit for many of his early achievements. (And perhaps her However, Maric herself made no such claims.
There’s a 2002 play and a 2011 opera based on her life, the latter written by Serbian composer Aleksandra Vrebalov.
More recently, pop culture has put Mileva Maric on our radar. In 2016, Marie Benedict told her story in The Other Einstein. It’s a work of historical fiction, but there’s some basis in fact. And in 2022, Bonnie Garmus’ bestseller Lessons in Chemistry mentions Mileva. It’s now a successful miniseries on Apple TV+, so doubtless readers are still discovering this intriguing historical figure – and her unusual name.
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME MILEVA?
US Census records from the 1920s through the 1940s list a few dozen women named Mileva. Most of them list Yugoslavia as their birthplace – a country that existed only during the twentieth century, and has since dissolved into several separate countries, including Serbia. A few others come from nearby Slavic countries, like Hungary and Albania.
It’s possible that this is just a twist on the more common Milena, swapping the -ena for an -eva.
The name debuted in the US Social Security Administration data in 2014, with just five births.
By 2018, it reached an all-time high, with 13 girls named Mileva.
As of 2023, just six girls received the name. If Mileva Maric Einstein’s moment in the popular imagination has passed, perhaps her name will also fade.
STYLISH RARITY
If the baby name Mileva didn’t already exist, it would be tempting to invent it. Take Millie and Mila, add in Eva and Olivia and Ava, and Mileva sounds like an obvious possibility.
That could mean Mileva is an option for any parents seeking an unusual given name, regardless of Serbian heritage. (Or not.)
A tiny handful of other Milevas can be found, but none of them are influential enough to change the way we name our children.
If you’re looking for a truly rare name and undeniably stylish choice for a daughter, Mileva might belong on your list.
I like the look of this name; the combination of ‘Mil’ with ‘Eva’. I also especially like the meaning and Millie as a nickname is an added bonus. My only hesitation is the pronunciation and I’d be concerned that others would struggle with working out how to correctly say the name. Does anyone know the correct pronunciation?
My husband is Serbian and we are planning on naming our first born daughter Mileva after his paternal grandmother. Pronounciation is: me-lay-vah commonly confused to be “mil-ava” !
I’m troubled that this name anagrams to “Am Evil”.
Mileva is also a surname mainly in Bulgaria and Macedonia meaning daughter of Mil, so a lot of the Yugoslav Mileva’s could be from Macedonia. I’ve seen on nameberry that Mileva would be considered quite strange over there as they very rarely use surnames as first names.
Not true at all.
It is a very common name and does not in any way translate to “daughter of Mil.” Also, it is a Serbian name through and through and is incredibly common. Macedonians do not speak the same dialectic as Serbs they’re very very different.