Milan ( Cyrillic: Милан) is a common Slavic male name and less commonly, a Roman name. It is derived from the Slavic element ''mil'', with meanings kind, loving, and gracious. Milan was originally a diminutive or

nickname A nickname is a substitute for the proper name of a familiar person, place or thing. Commonly used to express affection, a form of endearment, and sometimes amusement, it can also be used to express defamation of character. As a concept, it is ...

for those whose Slavic names began with "Mil-". It is found in

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

Serbia Serbia (, ; Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin and the Balkans. It shares land borders with Hungar ...

Montenegro ) , image_map = Europe-Montenegro.svg , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Podgorica , coordinates = , largest_city = capital , official_languages = M ...

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Yugoslavia. It ...

Bulgaria Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, and

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

. It was in the top 5 names for boys born in

in 2012. It was in the top 20 names for boys born in Slovakia in 2004. It was the eighth most popular name for boys born in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

in 2007, and seventh in

Flanders Flanders (, ; Dutch: ''Vlaanderen'' ) is the Flemish-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to cultu ...

in 2009.

Eastern European origin and use

It originates from the Old Slavic word ''mil'', variant: ''mio'', i.e. "beloved", "pleasant", "dear" which is common at the beginning of many Slavic names. This is the same root in

Serbian names This article features the naming culture of personal names of ethnic Serbs and the Serbian language. Serbian names are rendered in the "Western name order" with the surname placed after the given name. "Eastern name order" may be used when mul ...

like Miloslav,

Milomir Milomir ( bg, Миломир, cs, Milomír, sr-cyr, Миломир) is a Slavic masculine given name, a Slavic name derived from ''milo'' "love, to like" and ''mir'' "world, peace, prestige" or Indo-European ''mære'' "famous, shining, prominent ...

Milica Milica ( sr-Cyrl, Милица; pronounced 'Millitsa') is a feminine name popular in Balkan countries. It is a diminutive form of the given name Mila, meaning 'kind', 'dear' or 'sweet'. The name was used for a number of queens and princesses, inc ...

Milka Milka is a brand of chocolate confectionery, originally made in Switzerland in 1901 by Suchard. It has then been produced in Lörrach, Germany for the past 100 years. Since 2012 it has been owned by US-based company Mondelez International, when ...

, Miloš,

Milutin Milutin ( sr, Милутин) is a Serbian masculine given name of Slavic origin. The name may refer to: *Stephen Uroš II Milutin of Serbia Stefan Uroš II Milutin ( sr-cyr, Стефан Урош II Милутин, Stefan Uroš II Milutin; 125 ...

, Miodrag,

Miomir Miomir ( sr-cyr, Миомир) is a Serbo-Croatian masculine given name of Slavic origin. It may refer to: *Miomir Mugoša (born 1955), Montenegrin politician * Miomir Vukobratović (1931–2012), Serbian inventor *Miomir Žužul (born 1955), Croat ...

etc. most of which were first recorded in Serbian sources already in the pre- Nemanjić Age. According to the Czech calendar Milan's Day is on 18 June, Slovenian calendar: 11 September, 11 October, 12 November, Croatian calendar: 13 November, Slovak calendar: 27 November, Hungary: 19 May

Roman name

Milan is also a name used in

Romance-speaking Europe Most languages of Europe belong to the Indo-European language family. Out of a total European population of 744 million as of 2018, some 94% are native speakers of an Indo-European language. Within Indo-European, the three largest phyla are Ro ...

owing to its Ancient Roman meaning of "eager and laborious". The people named like that are named after the Italian city by that name.

Other versions

Men's versions of the name: Milanek (diminutive), Miladin, Milad, Milanko, Milče, Milček, Milči, Milčo, Mile, Milen, Milenko, Miletus, Mili, Milivoj, Milibor, Milidrag, Miligoj, Milija, Milijan, Milinko, Milisav, Milivoj, Milivoje, Milk, Milivojko, Miljan, Miljenko, Miljutin, Milko, Milodrag, Milogoj, Miloje, Milojko, Miloljub, Milomir, Milorad, Miloslav, Miloš, Miłosz, Bogumił, Milovan, Milun, Milutin, Mišo
Female versions of the name: , Milanka, Milena,

, Milijana, Miljanka, Milinka, Milislava, Milivoje, Milivojka, Mila, Miljana, Miljanka, Milka, Milojka, Milodraga, Milomirka, Milorad, Milosav, Milosavka, Miloslavka, Miloška, Milovana, Milovanka, Milunka

Family names derived from names

From the name of Milan and its variants a number of surnames were created. The most famous are: Milanović, Milanovac, Milanković, Miłosław, Milanić, Milač, Milavec, Miletić, Milić, Miljković, and others.

People

Milan I of Serbia Milan Obrenović ( sr-cyr, Милан Обреновић, Milan Obrenović; 22 August 1854 – 11 February 1901) reigned as the prince of Serbia from 1868 to 1882 and subsequently as king from 1882 to 1889. Milan I unexpectedly abdicated in ...

, the ruling Prince of Serbia (1868–1882), and later King of Serbia (1882–1889) * Milan Acquaah (born 1997), American basketball player * Milan Aleksić, Serbian water polo player, Olympic champion *

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

, Indian film art director *

Milan the Leather Boy Milan Radenkovich (December 15, 1941 – March 14, 1971), who was always credited mononymously as Milan, was an American record producer, songwriter and recording artist on numerous songs made throughout the 1960s, mostly though not exclusively ...

, a New York musician and producer active in the 1960s * Milan Balažic, Slovene politician and diplomat *

Milan Baroš Milan Baroš (; born 28 October 1981) is a Czech footballer who plays as a striker. He currently plays for FK Vigantice at amateur level. In 2005, he was part of the Liverpool team which won the UEFA Champions League. He went on to win Ligue ...

, Czech football player * Milan Biševac, Serbian football player * Milan Begović, Croatian writer * Milan (drag queen), American drag queen *

Milan Ftáčnik Milan Ftáčnik (30 October 1956 – 13 May 2021) was a Slovak politician, Minister of Education of the Slovak Republic from 1998 to 2002 and Mayor of Bratislava from 2010 to 2014. He was also a teacher at the Department of Applied Informati ...

, Slovak politician, former mayor of Slovak capital city of Bratislava * Milán Füst, Hungarian writer * Milan Hejduk, Czech ice hockey player *

Milan Hodža Milan Hodža (1 February 1878 – 27 June 1944) was a Slovak politician and journalist, serving from 1935 to 1938 as the prime minister of Czechoslovakia. As a proponent of regional integration, he was known for his attempts to establish a demo ...

, Slovak Prime Minister of Czechoslovakia * Milan Jayathilaka (born 1981), Sri Lankan politician * Milan Jovanović, several notable people with this name * Milan Kangrga, Croatian philosopher * Milan Karlíček, Czech ice hockey player *

Milan Komar Milan Komar, also known as Emilio Komar (4 June 1921 – 20 January 2006) was a Slovene Argentine Catholic philosopher and essayist. Life He was born in Ljubljana, Slovenia, then part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, to a Slovene f ...

, Slovene philosopher *

Milan Kučan Milan Kučan (; born 14 January 1941) is a Slovene politician who served as the first President of Slovenia from 23 December 1991 until 22 December 2002. Before being president of Slovenia, he was the 13th President of the Presidency of SR Slov ...

, President of Slovenia * Milan Kundera, Czech writer *

Milan Lucic Milan Lucic (; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian professional ice hockey player for the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League (NHL). He played major junior hockey with the Vancouver Giants in the Western Hockey League (WHL) for three seas ...

, Canadian hockey player * Milan Máčala, Czech football coach * Milan Mačvan, Serbian basketball player *

Milan Michálek Milan Michálek (; ; born 7 December 1984) is a Czech former professional ice hockey left winger who most recently played under contract to the Toronto Maple Leafs of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was drafted sixth overall by the San Jos ...

, Czech ice hockey player * Milan Mladenović, Serbian musician *

Milan Nedić Milan Nedić ( sr-Cyrl, Милан Недић; 2 September 1878 – 4 February 1946) was a Yugoslav and Serbian army general and politician who served as the chief of the General Staff of the Royal Yugoslav Army and minister of war in the R ...

, Prime Minister of Nazi-occupied Serbia * Milan Obrenović II, Prince of Serbia * Milan Pogačnik, Slovenian politician * Milan Puskar, Serbian-American entrepreneur * Milan Rapaić, Croatian football player * Milan Rešetar, Serbian linguist and historian * Milan Rúfus, Slovak poet *

Milan Rastislav Štefánik Milan Rastislav Štefánik (; 21 July 1880 – 4 May 1919) was a Slovak politician, diplomat, aviator and astronomer. During World War I, he served at the same time as a general in the French Army and as Minister of War for Czechoslovakia. A ...

, Slovak politician and astronomer, general of French Army *

Milan Stanković Milan Stanković ( sr-cyrl, Милан Станковић; born 9 September 1987) is a Serbian singer-songwriter. He rose to prominence as a finalist on the televised singing competition '' Zvezde Granda'' in 2007, and acquired wider fame by re ...

, Serbian singer * Milan Šašik, Slovak bishop *

Milan Šufflay Milan Šufflay (8 November 1879 – 19 February 1931) was a Croatian historian and politician. He was one of the founders of Albanology and the author of the first Croatian science fiction novel. As a Croatian nationalist, he was persecuted in th ...

, Croatian historian and politician * Milan Uzelac, Serbian poet and essayist * Milan Vaclavik, Slovak military general and defense minister (1985-1989) *

Milan Vidmar Milan Vidmar (22 June 1885 – 9 October 1962) was a Slovenian electrical engineer, chess player, Chess theory, chess theorist, and writer. He was among the top dozen chess players in the world from 1910 to 1930 and in 1950, was among the inaugu ...

, Slovene engineer, chess player, and philosopher

Fictional characters

* Milan Hendrickx, a recurring character in the Belgian series '' wtFOCK''.

Notes

{{given name Masculine given names Czech masculine given names Serbian masculine given names Croatian masculine given names Macedonian masculine given names Slovene masculine given names Bosnian masculine given names Bulgarian masculine given names Hungarian masculine given names Polish masculine given names Slovak masculine given names German masculine given names Dutch masculine given names Slavic masculine given names Swedish masculine given names