Milan

How to say it

/mɪˈlɑn/

What it means

Slavic name from milu ('gracious, dear, beloved'). Distinct from the Italian city Milan (from Latin Mediolanum), though English-speaking parents often associate the two. Shakira and Gerard Piqué named their son Milan (born 2013).

Milan as a given name comes from the Slavic root milu, meaning 'gracious, dear, or beloved.' It has been a top-tier boy's name across the former Yugoslavia, Czech Republic, and Slovakia for centuries. The Italian city of Milan (Milano, from the Latin Mediolanum, 'middle of the plain') is a separate word, though English-speaking parents often associate the two. Milan Kundera (1929-2023), the Czech-born novelist of The Unbearable Lightness of Being, is the deepest 20th-century cultural anchor. Shakira and Gerard Piqué named their son Milan (born January 2013), which is the contemporary celebrity-baby anchor that pushed it into wider US use. It entered the US top 500 in 2014 and is climbing. Single short forms aren't common.

Heads-up notes

• Pronunciation

  mi-LAHN (stress on the second syllable in the Slavic name; the Italian city has the same shape).

• Pop culture

  Shakira and Gerard Piqué's son Milan (born 2013) is the modern celebrity anchor; Milan Kundera is the deeper literary one.

Who's worn it

Historical figures, characters, and public faces who share the name. The cultural surface, for whatever weight you want to give it.

• Milan Kundera Czech-French novelist, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, 1929-2023
• Milan Piqué Mebarak Son of Shakira and Gerard Piqué, born 2013

Spelling variants

• Millan
• Milen

Names with the same feeling

• Roman From Rome
• Kai Sea, or 'keeper of the keys'
• Leo Lion
• Luca From Lucania, or 'light'
• Luka From Lucania, or 'light'

See Milan from another angle