Milo: Baby Name of the DayIs Milo the next Mason?

Thanks to Silent One for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day.

MILES

For years, we knew Miles as a Pilgrim, complete with over-sized shoe buckles and a serious face.

That’s because Myles Standish sailed on the Mayflower, a military officer rather than a true believer. He led the colonists as a commander for most of his life, and also served in administrative roles.

But 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.

John Legend and Chrissy Teigen gave the name to their son in 2018, the same year it finally reached the US Top 100.

MILES-WITH-AN-O

Miles and Milo almost certainly come from the same Germanic roots. Miles is simply the English form. The -o ending original may have derived from the Slavic milu – gracious, dear.

Or not. There’s an ancient Greek wrestler by the name, way back five centuries BC. And then an eighth century bishop of Reims answered to the name. It dots the historical record over the centuries, raising the possibility that there’s more than one origin and meaning.

But today, it reads like Miles-with-an-o. And this is a good age for o-ending boy names. Leo has ranked in the US Top 100 for five years and counting.  Plenty of o-enders are on the rise. And, in general, we’re bullish on vowel-ending boy names, from Noah, Luca, and Ezra to Eli, Kai, and Beau.

MILO GOES TO COLLEGE

This names carries a little bit of an edge.

In 1982, punk bank Descendents released Milo Goes to College. It 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. (Auckerman eventually earned a PhD in biochemistry.)

HEROES & VILLAINS

Plenty of other associations reinforced the name’s quirky-edgy outsider status, including a mix of heroes and villains.

  • It’s the given name of 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 hero 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.

VENTIMIGLIA

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 star. The fourth season of the NBC drama is currently underway.

RENAISSANCE

A handful of celebrity parents, including Liv Tyler, have chosen the name. It returned to the US Top 1000 in 2001, after many years of obscurity.

It’s popular in France and Belgium, Sweden and Finland, and elsewhere in the English-speaking world, too. Not Australia, though, where it’s the name of an energy drink.

But in the US, it’s reached #178 as of 2018. It’s gained in use consistently over two decades, suggesting that this might be one of the new boy names to watch in the coming decade.

Do you like Miles better than Milo?

First published December 15, 2009, this post was revised substantially and re-published on January 22, 2020.

About Abby Sandel

Whether you're naming a baby, or just all about names, you've come to the right place! Appellation Mountain is a haven for lovers of obscure gems and enduring classics alike.

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14 Comments

  1. 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.

  2. 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!!

  3. 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!

    1. 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.

  4. 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.

  5. 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.

  6. 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)!