How common is the surname Miller?

1,161,437 people in the United States had the surname Miller in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 266 Americans. It ranked 7th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Miller?

Arthur Miller, American playwright and essayist (1915–2005), followed by Henry Miller.

The surnameMiller

An occupational surname, the 7th most common in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈmɪlɚ/ 2 syllables Soundex M460 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Miller is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

English surname, capitalization of miller. Doublet of Muller. Also compare Milner, Millward, Müller, Mueller, Mulder, Molenaar, Meunier, Molinaro, Molinero, Molnár, Mlinar, Młynarczyk.

Miller is an occupational surname: named after the work an ancestor did.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 1,161,437 people named Miller in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 266 Americans. That is up 3.0% since 2000, when the Census counted 1,127,803.

rank among US surnames

1,161,437

people in 2010

394

per 100,000 Americans

+3%

change since 2000 (was #6)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4	Brown	1,437,026	215
#5	Jones	1,425,470	217
#6	Garcia	1,166,120	265
#7	Miller	1,161,437	266

Who is named Miller

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

84% of people named Miller identified as white (not Hispanic), 11% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.2% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 84%
Black (not Hispanic) 11%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.2%
Two or more races 1.8%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Millers

265 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Arthur Miller
American playwright and essayist (1915–2005)
Henry Miller
American novelist (1891–1980)
Sienna Miller
British-American actress (born 1981)
Wentworth Miller
American and British actor, born 1972
Glenn Miller
American band leader, arranger, and composer (1904–1944)
Ezra Miller
American actor (born 1992)
Lee Miller
American photographer and photojournalist (1907–1977)
Frank Miller
American writer, artist, film director (born 1957)
George Miller
Australian filmmaker (born 1945)
Reggie Miller
American basketball player (born 1965)
Bode Miller
American alpine ski racer, born 1977
Stanley Miller
American scientist (1930–2007)

Notable Millers come mostly from the United States (238), the United Kingdom (8) and Australia (8).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Miller

Miller has the Soundex code M460, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M460.

Questions

Where does the surname Miller come from?: English surname, capitalization of miller. Doublet of Muller. Also compare Milner, Millward, Müller, Mueller, Mulder, Molenaar, Meunier, Molinaro, Molinero, Molnár, Mlinar, Młynarczyk.
How common is the surname Miller?: 1,161,437 people in the United States had the surname Miller in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 266 Americans. It ranked 7th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Miller?: In the 2010 Census, 84% of people named Miller identified as white (not Hispanic), and 11% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Miller?: Arthur Miller, American playwright and essayist (1915–2005), followed by Henry Miller.