How common is the surname Mills?

151,942 people in the United States had the surname Mills in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,032 Americans. It ranked 182nd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Mills?

C. Wright Mills, American sociologist (1916–1962), followed by John Mills.

Where is the surname Mills most common?

Wikidata records people named Mills in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 2 other countries.

How do you pronounce Mills?

Mills is /mɪlz/, one syllable.

Is the surname Mills getting more or less common?

More common. 147,909 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 151,942 in 2010, up 2.7%.

Is Mills also a first name?

Yes. Mills is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Mills

An occupational surname, carried by 151,942 people in the United States.

Pronounced /mɪlz/ 1 syllable Soundex M420 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). Mills is more common than 99.9% of them.

Origin

From mills, in reference to mill owners and mill workers.

Mills 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 151,942 people named Mills in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 2,032 Americans. That is up 2.7% since 2000, when the Census counted 147,909.

#182

rank among US surnames

151,942

people in 2010

per 100,000 Americans

+2.7%

change since 2000 (was #165)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#173	Wagner	155,795	1,982
#174	Black	154,738	1,995
#175	Robertson	153,666	2,009
#176	Boyd	153,469	2,012
#177	Rose	153,397	2,013
#178	Stone	153,329	2,014
#179	Salazar	152,703	2,022

Who is named Mills

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

78% of people named Mills identified as white (not Hispanic), 17% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.3% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 78%
Black (not Hispanic) 17%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.3%
Two or more races 2.1%
American Indian and Alaska Native 0.8%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Millss

46 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

C. Wright Mills
American sociologist (1916–1962)
John Mills
British actor (1908–2005)
Hayley Mills
British actress (born 1946)
Patty Mills
Australian basketball player (born 1988)
Mike Mills
American musician; multi-instrumentalist for American alternative rock band R.E.M., born 1958
Juliet Mills
British actress, born 1941
Billy Mills
American Olympic athlete (born 1938)
Janet T. Mills
American politician and 75th governor of Maine (born 1947)
Donna Mills
American actress, born 1940
Robert Mills
American physicist, co-author of the Yang-Mills theory, 1928–1999
Alley Mills
American actress, born 1951
Jeff Mills
American DJ, record producer, and composer, born 1963

Notable Millss come mostly from the United States (36), the United Kingdom (4) and Australia (4).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Mills

Mills has the Soundex code M420, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code M420.

Questions

Where does the surname Mills come from?: From mills, in reference to mill owners and mill workers.
How common is the surname Mills?: 151,942 people in the United States had the surname Mills in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 2,032 Americans. It ranked 182nd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Mills?: In the 2010 Census, 78% of people named Mills identified as white (not Hispanic), and 17% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Mills?: C. Wright Mills, American sociologist (1916–1962), followed by John Mills.
Where is the surname Mills most common?: Wikidata records people named Mills in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia and 2 other countries.
How do you pronounce Mills?: Mills is /mɪlz/, one syllable.
What type of surname is Mills?: Mills is an occupational surname, named after the work an ancestor did.
Is the surname Mills getting more or less common?: More common. 147,909 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 151,942 in 2010, up 2.7%.
Is Mills also a first name?: Yes. Mills is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.