Miller
Meaning
occupational surname, "one who grinds grain"
The story
Miller is one of the most common surnames in the English-speaking world, and its meaning could not be plainer or more essential: the miller ground the grain into flour, the person a whole village depended on to make its daily bread. It carries a bushel of talent as a surname, from the playwright Arthur Miller, who wrote Death of a Salesman, to the bandleader Glenn Miller, whose swing defined a wartime generation. As a first name it fits the modern love of sturdy occupational surnames like Mason, Cooper and Tanner. Brand new in that role, Miller has climbed fast in the United States and reads as current as it has ever been. Down-to-earth, dependable and quietly warm, Miller hands a child the name of the trade that kept a community fed, worn now as an easy, friendly first name.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Miller peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
3,089 people · the #3,813 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 66,667 · median age 31
Among people named Miller living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 86 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Miller
Most people given the name Miller in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Miller deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Miller truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Miller fits with your family’s names and surname.
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