Milou

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 3 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Milou is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish given name501 records spelled Milou5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, United States, Philippines, Argentina

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Mïlöü, Miloù

• Greek given name70 records spelled Milou14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Greece, United States, Serbia, Kyrgyzstan

  Also written Milos, Miloš, Μηλος, Μυλος, Mylos

40 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Milou is also recorded in 3 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In French, Diminutive pet name; often from Marie or Emilie.

  as a name·Dictionnaire généalogique des prénoms

• In Swedish, Milou är en fransk smekform till Émilie (→ Emily). Den mest kände namnbäraren torde dock vara Tintins hund i seriealbumen av Hergé. Hunden är av hankön, men namnet är betydligt vanligare som kvinnonamn i Sverige.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

• In Czech, feminine accusative/instrumental singular of milý

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

SE SCB — Namnstatistik (to 2023) — 22 years between 1999–2020. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Madeleine Jacobb. 1923FRnot in their usual nameHolocaust survivor
• Milou Jeunehommeb. 1924BEBelgian politician (1924–2001)
• Milou Hermusb. 1947NLDutch painter and graphic designer (1947-2021)
• Milou van Rossumb. 1965NLDutch journalist
• Milou Nuyensb. 1985NLDutch dancer
• Milou Van Groesenb. 1988NLDutch actress and model
• Milou van der Horstb. 1992NLDutch creator
• Milou Lugtersb. 2000NLbadminton player
• Milou van Wijkb. 2004NLDutch swimmer
• Countess Zaria of Orange-Nassaub. 2006GBnot in their usual nameyounger daughter of Prince Friso and Princess Mabel of Orange-Nassau

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 123 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Milou?

We estimate roughly 9.9 thousand people bear Milou (counting its spellings and scripts) across 5 countries in our records.

In which country does Milou have the most bearers?

We estimate about 9.0 thousand people bear Milou in the Netherlands, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled milou.

Where is Milou most common?

Milou is densest in the Netherlands, where the national register counts about 1 in 1.9 thousand people carrying it.

How common is Milou compared with other names?

In the Netherlands, Milou is the 489th most common given name of 134,847 given names recorded there.

Is Milou a male or female name?

Milou is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Milou mean?

Recorded meaning: Diminutive nickname form; likely from Émilien/Émile.