Manon
A French feminine name, a diminutive of Marie or Anne.
Name Census estimates that about 692 living Americans carry the first name Manon. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Manon today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Manon births was 1999 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Manon. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Manon with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
692
~ 1 in 495,310 Americans
Peak year
1999
26 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
1954 SSA rank
#4,163
Tracked since 1917
Census
Manon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,257 people with the first name Manon, which placed it at #10,545 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#10,545
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,257 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Manon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Manon is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%) and Black (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Manon described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Manon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.0% · 1,043
- Two or more races5.2% · 65
- Black or African American4.6% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Manon
Out of the 828 babies given the name Manon since 1880, 99.4% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Manon as a male name
- Ranked #4,163 in 1954
- 5 male births in 1954
- Peak: 1954 (5 births)
Manon as a female name
- Ranked #14,567 in 2024
- 6 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1999 (26 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Manon leans strongly female. 1,173 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 83 male bearers (6.6%).
Popularity
Manon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Manon from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 175 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Manon by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Manon during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Manons live
Origin
Meaning and history of Manon
The name Manon is a French feminine given name derived from the late Latin name Ammona, which itself originated from the Phoenician name Ammuna. The name Ammuna is believed to be connected to the Phoenician word "aman," meaning "truth" or "trustworthy." The transition from Ammona to Manon is thought to have occurred due to the influence of the French language's phonetic rules.
The earliest recorded use of the name Manon can be traced back to the 13th century in France. It gained popularity during the 17th and 18th centuries, particularly after the publication of the novel "Manon Lescaut" by Abbé Prévost in 1731. The novel's titular character, Manon Lescaut, became an iconic figure in French literature, contributing to the name's enduring appeal.
In Christian tradition, Manon is associated with Saint Mannon, a Welsh saint from the 6th century who is revered as the patron saint of educators and students. This connection has added a spiritual dimension to the name's meaning and significance.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Manon. One of the earliest recorded instances is Manon Gropius (c. 1445-1515), a German Renaissance painter known for her intricate religious artworks. Another prominent figure is Manon Roland (1754-1793), a French revolutionary and influential figure during the French Revolution.
Other notable Manons include Manon Cormier (1789-1873), a Canadian settler and pioneer in New Brunswick; Manon Massenet (1844-1926), a French opera singer and daughter of the composer Jules Massenet; and Manon Gropius (1916-1935), the daughter of the renowned architect Walter Gropius and a promising artist in her own right.
While the name Manon has ancient roots, it has maintained a timeless appeal and has been bestowed upon notable individuals throughout various eras and cultures, each contributing to the rich tapestry of its historical significance.
People
Manon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Manon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Manon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Manon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 692 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Manon going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 495,310 US residents.
Is Manon a common name?
We classify Manon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 828 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Manon most popular?
The single biggest year for Manon was 1999, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Manon is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Manon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,257 people with the name Manon, or 0.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,545 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Manon in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Manon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Manon leans strongly female. 1,173 people counted with this name were female (93.4%), compared with 83 male bearers (6.6%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Manon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Manon is White at 83.0%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (5.2%) and Black (4.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Manon most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Manon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.0% (1,043 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Manon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Manon a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Manon in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Manon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Manon in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Manon can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Manon?
See how many people share the name Manon on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.