Millicent

Millicent is an English form that developed through Old French Melisende from an older Germanic name. Its elements are associated with vigor or activity and strength. The familiar translation strong in work summarizes that history, although the older elements can be explained more broadly than the modern English word work.

Millicent Fawcett gives the name an important connection with the campaign for women’s suffrage in Britain. Fictional bearers appear in works by Anne Brontë and Henry James, and Millicent is also part of Barbie’s full name. Millie or Milly provides a well-established everyday form. The combination of medieval roots and later cultural associations gives Millicent a story that extends across several very different periods.