The baby name Milo has been on fringes forever, but lately it’s headed for the top.
Thanks to Silent One for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.
WHAT DOES THE BABY NAME MILO MEAN?
Let’s begin with Miles.
Miles has ranked in the US Top 1000 every year since the data was first reported for 1880. It’s been a Top 100 popular name for boys since 2018, and it’s a familiar masculine name across the English-speaking world.
School children learn about Myles Standish, the military officer who accompanied the Pilgrims to the New World. The name once suggested a serious face complete with over-sized shoe buckles and a tall black hat.
Modern parents view Miles differently. Over the years, it’s become less Plymouth Rock, more jazz legend. Credit trumpeter and band leader Miles Davis for the transformation.
Miles and Milo have a few possible origins:
- Miles likely comes from the Latin word for solider.
- There’s also the Slavic milu – gracious, dear.
- A German root meaning mild, gentle, or kind is another possible source.
It’s tough to draw a hard, bright line, and a surprising number of Milos are found in the historical record, including an ancient Greek wrestler called Milo Croton. He competed in the early Olympics way back in the 500s BCE. An 8th century bishop of Reims and Trier also answered to Milo.
MANY FAMOUS MILOS
This names carries a little bit of an edge.
In 1982, the Descendents released their debut album, Milo Goes to College. The punk rock record proved broadly influential – even if it wasn’t exactly a radio hit. The drawing on the album cover was based on Descendants frontman Milo Auckerman who was, in fact, leaving the band to return to school, eventually earning a PhD in biochemistry.
The name’s outsider status pre-dated the band and endured afterward, too, with more famous figures like:
- Catch-22‘s First Lieutenant Minderbinder, an opportunistic profiteer.
- Among Batman’s many enemies is Professor Milo, a chemist who turned to a life of crime.
- Alias gave us the fictional medieval genius Milo Rambaldi, whose innovations and predictions set many a plot in motion.
- Then there’s the main character of The Phantom Toolbooth, a classic in young adult literature. That Milo acquits himself admirably in Lands Beyond.
- It’s also the name of the orange tabby cat in The Adventures of Milo and Otis, a 1986 Japanese movie, imported to English in 1989 with narration by Dudley Moore.
- In 2001, Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire introduced us to Milo Thatch, a young adventurer determined to discover the fabled underwater city.
All of this means a generation of future parents grew up with the name – either on vinyl or associated with a cute kitten. Possibly both.
MILO’S RENAISSANCE
Along the way, actor Milo Ventimiglia slowly became a household name. He was one of Rory’s love interests, the brooding Jess, in Gilmore Girls. He graduated to nurse-turned-hero Peter in Heroes. He’s been a fan favorite all along, but 2016’s This is Us made him a household name.
A handful of celebrity parents, including Liv Tyler and John Legend, have chosen the name for their sons.
But perhaps the baby name Milo simply succeeds on sound. It takes inspiration from the popular Miles, but also from so many rising boy names ending with O. There’s Leo and Mateo, both near the very top of the charts, with Theo not that far behind. Enzo, Arlo, and Beau are all rising along with Milo.
Boy names ending in vowels, from Noah to Luca, Ezra to Eli, Kai and Malachi, are all mainstream favorites.
Milo fits right in.
HOW POPULAR IS THE NAME MILO?
The name returned to the US Top 1000 in 2001, after many years of obscurity. As of 2025, the baby name Milo ranks a respectable #119.
It’s popular in France and Belgium, Sweden and Finland, Italy and the Netherlands, and elsewhere in the English-speaking world, too. In Australia, however, it’s the name of an energy drink.
Back in 2020, it appeared on this list of one of the new boy names to watch in the coming decade. That seems to have held true.
Also worth noting: Mil- names appeal across gender lines. Just ask the prents of Millie, Miller, Mila, and Miley.
FAST-RISING FAVORITE
Call Milo a fast-rising favorite. It’s the perfect baby name for parents who want something just slightly offbeat but still within the wearable and familiar.
It’s friendly, energetic, and rooted in history. If you’re crushed that Leo and Theo are so popular, Milo might be the next logical choice.
What do you think of the baby name Milo?
First published December 15, 2009, this post was revised substantially and re-published on January 22, 2020 and again on July 9, 2026.
Yay! I can read the whole post! I love the name Milo. Hopefully I’ll get a chance to use it, either for first or middle.
There’s only a few lines here– I can’t read the whole entry. Just a head’s up 🙂
I think Milo is darling!
Chocolate drink!
Also, knackers in Ireland (knackers are the Irish version of American white trash but in matching Adidas tracksuits, slim white trainers and a p*ss fringe) add an “o” onto names to make nicknames, hence:
Stephen becomes Steo
Damien becomes Damo
Anthony becomes Anto
and so forth! I Think I will probably stay away from “o” ending names when the time comes. I can just hear Milo being said in a knacker accent!!
Ugh. I hate this one, along with Otis! It’s such a nerdy, mealy-mouthed sound. Myles, Milo, Otis, Oscar – they’re all the pits for me!
Oh, I love Oscar! My husband veto’d it, however, because he thinks it would read Latino, which we’re not. My arguments about Oscar being Gaelic in origin have fallen on deaf ears.
I can’t separate Milo from the Descendents, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. My favorite Milo is Milo as a nickname for Michael. I knew a Michael who went by Elmo … but that was BEFORE the furry red menace on Sesame Street.
Milo is New Zealand’s ‘national’ chocolaty drink. A staple in most Kiwi homes. A kid called Milo would find it tough going here. https://www.nestle.co.nz/milo/ To borrow from the PP, it is akin to Ovaltine.
That aside, as well as the slightly comical aspect of it I can’t really explain, I like it. I like many names ending in -o.
Milo is out for me. For one, I have a dog named Miles (for that matter, Milo was the name of our pastor’s dog for a few years). Additionally, I grew up in India where Milo (the malt drink) is quite popular. To me, it would be like naming my kid Ovaltine.
I firmly like Milo. He’s a bit nicknamey for me though, so if Josephine had been born with boy parts she’d have been Miles, nn Milo. Yeah. So, while it was in consideration in 2003/2004, it’s not any longer. Miles & Milo both have gone too mainstream for me. Cosmo & Philo have replaced him as the O- enders on my list. If it goes mainstream after I have the kid – fine with me but before? Not a chance. I still like both names but would rather hear them on someone else’s kid, not mine. 🙂 (no, there is no kid in the works – doesn’t mean we’ve stopped trying)!