The Milne surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 6,258 people carried this name — #5,555 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 47,200 people counted. That is up 3% from 6,055 in 2000.

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What the name means

The meaning of the Milne surname

Scottish occupational surname for a miller or someone who lived at a mill, from Old English mylen (“mill”).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Milne» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.

As an English and Welsh surname

Bardsley classes it as a local name, from where the family lived: ‘at the mill’.

An early record he cites: Petrus atte Milne, 1379 — Poll Tax, West Riding of Yorkshire.

His entry covers Miln, Milne and Milnes.

From Charles W. Bardsley, A Dictionary of English and Welsh Surnames, with Special American Instances (London: Henry Frowde, 1901), p. 534 · public domain.

In Argentina’s national register

At least 190 people named Milne live in Argentina.

RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 148
City of Buenos Aires 30
Entre Ríos 12

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In Poland’s population register

30 people named Milne have a registered home in Poland.

Of the 61 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in 8 of Poland’s 16 voivodeships, most of all in Silesian.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Silesian 7
Greater Poland 6
Łódź 4
Pomeranian 4
Lesser Poland 3
Kuyavian-Pomeranian 2
Masovian 2
West Pomeranian 2

PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.

In France’s civil register

France’s register of deaths holds 26 people named Milne.

Most of them — 15 — were born outside France. Those born in France came from 4 départements, most often Guadeloupe.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they were born

Born outside France 15
Guadeloupe 8
Aube 1
Bouches-du-Rhône 1
Moselle 1

Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

24 people named Milne live in Switzerland.

They live in 4 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.

Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.

Where they live today

Zurich 9
Vaud 7
Appenzell Ausserrhoden 4
Lucerne 4

Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.

In the Nordic population registers

29 people named Milne is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 29

Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).

Among the farmers of England and Wales, 1880s

Milne was found among the farmers of Kent: 24 in every 10,000.

Guppy counted the farmers listed in each county’s directory and recorded a name only where it reached about 7 in every 10,000; where it does not appear, it was rarer than that, not absent. His list gives one count for the spellings Millen and Milne.

Where it concentrates, on the map

Per 10,000 farmers, by county

Kent 24

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), alphabetical list of English and Welsh names — public domain · farmers in Kelly’s Post Office Directories of the 1880s, per 10,000 farmers in each county.

In Scotland, 1880s

Milne was 33 in every 10,000 names in Scotland.

That is about 1 in 303. Its home there, in Guppy’s words: “Aberdeenshire and neighbouring region.” He counted the more than 20,000 names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, taking Scotland as a whole, and listed only the names that reached 10 in every 10,000.

H. B. Guppy, «Homes of Family Names in Great Britain» (London, 1890), appendix: alphabetical list of the most frequent Scottish names, p. 592 — public domain · names in Halliburton’s County Directory of Scotland, per 10,000 for the whole country.

In Scotland’s registers today

Milne was recorded 305 times in Scotland’s registers of births, marriages and deaths in 2025.

That made it the 58th most common name in those registers. In 1975, the first year of the series, the count was 486. Each birth counts the child’s surname, each marriage both partners’ and each death the surname of the person who died — a yearly count of registrations, not of the people who live in Scotland.

National Records of Scotland, «Most Common Surnames, 2025» (published 26 May 2026): every surname recorded 10 or more times in the 2025 registers, and the series from 1975 · different spellings are counted separately — © Crown copyright 2026. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.

In print

Milne in American newspapers,
1894.

Newspaper page from New Ulm Review carrying the name Milne
New Ulm Review 1894-01-10
Newspaper page from New Ulm Review carrying the name Milne
New Ulm Review 1894-01-10
Newspaper page from New Ulm Review carrying the name Milne
New Ulm Review 1894-01-10

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 2,635 pages in all carry the name.

In print

Milne in Australian newspapers,
1820s–2000s.

117,845 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Milne. The most, 19,802, date from the 1910s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in South Australia, at 2.5 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

South Australia 34,851
Victoria 27,459
New South Wales 25,312
Queensland 17,083
Western Australia 8,324
Tasmania 4,152
ACT (Canberra) 338
Northern Territory 123

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Milne.

Who carried it

People named Milne,
with a public archive behind them.

  • W. A. Milne d. 1929 · photographer
  • Monica Milne d. 1980 · diplomat
  • Alexander Milne d. 1850 · civil servant
  • Marjorie Una Milne d. 1973
  • Ellen Caroline Milne d. 1902
  • Alexander Milne d. 1789

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Milne,
in the records of 8 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States1,645 records

1,645 records of the Milne name in the United States
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 431
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 389
  • Other U.S. records 825
  1. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Thomas J. Milne

    Born 1912 in New York. Enlisted 1942 at New York City; metal worker from New York County. U.S. Army veteran of World War II; died 1954, buried at Long Island National Cemetery, New York.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record David H. Milne

    Born 1925 in Kansas. Enlisted 1946 at Fort Leavenworth; farmer from Nemaha County. U.S. Army Air Forces veteran of World War II; died 1993, buried at Fort McPherson National Cemetery, Nebraska.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain); U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0)
  3. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Jane Milne

    Arrived at New York in 1885 aboard the Wisconsin from Liverpool and Queenstown, aged 25; matron. From Aberdeen, England.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)

Showing 3 of 1,645 records for Milne in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · NYC Department of Records & Information Services, Historical Vital Records (NYC Open Data) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Gravesite Locator (CC0) · New York State Department of Health, Genealogical Research Death Index · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain) · Sacramento County, Historic Burials (CC BY 4.0) · U.S. National Archives, Defense Casualty Analysis System (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain).

Australia2,835 records

2,835 records of the Milne name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 1,399
  • Victoria wills and probate, deaths to 2001 592
  • Other Australian records 844
  1. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Eliza Milne

    Died 1860 in Hobart, Tasmania, aged 59. Will registered in Tasmania in 1860.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Percy John Collicott Milne

    Born 1868 in New Norfolk, Tasmania. Married 1899 in New Norfolk, Tasmania, aged 30.

    Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0)
  3. An 1829 etching of convicts being rowed out to the prison ship York in Portsmouth Harbour
    Pictured: convicts going on board a prison ship, 1829
    Transportation record George Milne

    Transported to New South Wales aboard the Minstral, arriving 1825; ticket of leave 1829. Native of Aberdeen.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)

Showing 3 of 2,835 records for Milne in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Queensland State Archives (CC BY 4.0) · Libraries Tasmania, Tasmanian Names Index (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY) · State Library of Western Australia (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Ballarat, Avenue of Honour Plaques (CC BY 3.0 AU). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain); Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain); Prison-ship in Portsmouth Harbour, with the convicts going on board, etching by Edward William Cooke, 1829, Royal Museums Greenwich (public domain).

Canada445 records

445 records of the Milne name in Canada
  • Nova Scotia Archives name indexes 127
  • Mountain View Cemetery, Vancouver 83
  • Other Canadian records 235
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Alex Milne

    Came to Ontario in 1877 aboard the Waldensian, landing at Quebec, bound for Hamilton, Ontario; Scotch.

    Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record John Milne

    Buried in 1967 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 79.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Charlotte E. Milne

    Died 1949 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

    Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia.

Showing 3 of 445 records for Milne in Canada.

Counts: Nova Scotia Archives. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Nova Scotia. · City of Vancouver. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Vancouver. · City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. · Veterans Affairs Canada. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence - Canada. · City of Winnipeg. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Winnipeg. · Archives of Ontario. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Ontario. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · City of Niagara Falls. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – Niagara Falls. · Contains information provided by the City of Waterloo under licence. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

United Kingdom358 records

358 records of the Milne name in the United Kingdom
  • Scottish rolls of honour, First World War 177
  • Stirling Council burial records 106
  • Other British records 75
  1. A First World War roll of honour of the staff of C. & E. Morton Ltd
    Example: roll of honour, 1914–1919
    War record George Milne

    Born 1884 at Elgin; chauffeur. Died 1918. Named in the Morayshire roll of honour (1921). Listed among the dead in the War Office casualty list of 1918 (Machine Gun Corps).

    National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain); National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record George Milne

    Buried in 1914 at Ballengeich Cemetery, Stirling, Scotland, aged 62.

    Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.
  3. A petition to the probate court of St. Louis, 1848
    Example: probate petition, 1848
    Probate record Charles Milne

    Will proved in 1933; of Colwyn Bay, Denbigh.

    National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0)

Showing 3 of 358 records for Milne in the United Kingdom.

Counts: National Library of Scotland, Rolls of Honour (public domain) · Stirling Council. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · MOLA and HS2, St James's burial ground data. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. · National Library of Wales, Wills Index Cards (CC0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: C. & E. Morton Ltd roll of honour, 1914–1919, photo by Adrian S Pye via Geograph (CC BY-SA 2.0); Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0); Petition to the probate court, St. Louis, 1848, Missouri Historical Society (public domain).

New Zealand148 records

148 records of the Milne name in New Zealand
  • Christchurch City cemetery records 110
  • Waimakariri District cemetery records, Canterbury 16
  • Other New Zealand records 22
  1. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Robert Allenby Milne

    Born 1918, died 1979; buried at Rangiora Lawn Cemetery, Canterbury.

    Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record William H. J. Milne

    Buried in 1937 at Shortland Cemetery, Thames-Coromandel District, Waikato, aged 53.

    Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0)
  3. A page of the burial register of Newtown, Wales, 1858
    Example: burial register, 1858
    Burial record Sarah Milne

    Buried in 1906 at Lyttelton Catholic Cemetery, Christchurch, Canterbury, aged 60.

    Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 3 of 148 records for Milne in New Zealand.

Counts: Christchurch City Council (CC BY 4.0) · Waimakariri District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Thames-Coromandel District Council (CC BY 4.0) · National Library of Scotland, War Office Weekly Casualty Lists (public domain) · Marlborough District Council (CC BY 4.0) · Canterbury Maps (Environment Canterbury), Timaru and Mackenzie District Councils (CC BY 3.0 NZ). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Burial register of Newtown, Montgomeryshire, 1858, National Library of Wales (CC0).

Netherlands10 records

10 records of the Milne name in the Netherlands
  • Dutch civil registers (births, marriages, deaths) 7
  • Dutch population registers 3
  1. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record Alexandrina Milne

    Married in 1916 in Zutphen. Died 1972 in Rheden.

    Open Archives, Gelders Archief (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A marriage entry in the civil register of Tilburg, 1911
    Example: marriage register, 1911
    Marriage record George Grinnell Milne

    Married in 1882 in 's-Gravenhage; "bankier".

    Open Archives, Haags Gemeentearchief (CC BY 4.0)

Showing 2 of 10 records for Milne in the Netherlands.

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Marriage register, Tilburg, 1911, Regionaal Archief Tilburg (public domain).

France6 records

6 records of the Milne name in France France's national death register, 1970–2001
  1. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Allan C. Milne

    Born 1939 in Great Britain; died 1993 in Saint-Martin (Guadeloupe).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)
  2. A page of the death register of Nice, 1930
    Example: French death register, 1930
    Death record Norma Alice Daisy Milne

    Born 1941 in Grand-Bourg; died 1994 in Saint-Claude (Guadeloupe).

    Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte)

Showing 2 of 6 records for Milne in France.

Counts: Insee, Fichier des personnes décédées (Licence Ouverte). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Death register of Nice, 1930, Archives départementales des Alpes-Maritimes (public domain).

Belgium1 record

1 record of the Milne name in Belgium Belgian civil registers (births, marriages, deaths)
  1. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Birth record Joanna Milne

    Born 1901 in Gent.

    Open Archives, Archief Gent (CC BY 4.0)

Counts: Open Archives (CC BY 4.0). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Other spellings of this name

The same name, spelled another way.

Spellings that H. B. Guppy (England and Wales, 1890) or the Registrar-General for Ireland (births index of 1890) counted as one name together with Milne.

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Milne.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Milne is.
A volume says what happened to it.

Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.

See the Milne volume
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