Minot
A masculine French name meaning "small" or "diminutive".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Minot. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Minot today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Minot births was 1915 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Minot. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Minot. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1915
5 babies that year
Average age
-
1925 SSA rank
#4,679
Tracked since 1915
Popularity
Minot: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Minot from the 1910s through to the 1920s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 5 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Minot 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 Minot during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Minot
The name Minot has its origins in the French language, with roots that can be traced back to the Middle Ages. It is believed to have derived from the Old French word "minot," which referred to a small measurement or unit of volume, typically used for grain or other dry goods.
In the early medieval period, it was not uncommon for occupational surnames to emerge as a way of identifying individuals based on their trade or profession. It is possible that the name Minot was initially bestowed upon someone who worked as a grain merchant or dealt with the measurement and distribution of grains.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Minot dates back to the 11th century, when it appears in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of landowners and property commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that individuals bearing the name Minot were present in England shortly after the Norman Conquest.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, the name Minot can be found scattered across various historical records and documents. One notable figure was George Minot, an English clergyman and scholar who lived from 1617 to 1658. He was a fellow of St. John's College, Cambridge, and served as the Vice-Chancellor of the university from 1647 to 1648.
In the realm of literature, the name Minot was famously borne by Laurence Minot, an English poet who lived in the 14th century. He is best known for his lyrical poems chronicling the military victories of King Edward III during the Hundred Years' War against France.
Another significant figure was Samuel Minot, an American colonial historian and politician who lived from 1735 to 1806. He served as a member of the Massachusetts Provincial Congress and was a strong advocate for American independence during the Revolutionary War.
In the field of medicine, James Jackson Putnam Minot (1873-1936) was a renowned American physician and pathologist. He made significant contributions to the study of pernicious anemia and was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1934 for his groundbreaking work on liver therapy for the treatment of this condition.
While the name Minot may not be as widely used today as it once was, its historical significance and rich cultural heritage continue to resonate, serving as a testament to the enduring legacy of names that have withstood the test of time.
People
Minot + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Minot 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
Minot: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Minot?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Minot 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 - US residents.
Is Minot a common name?
We classify Minot as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Minot most popular?
The single biggest year for Minot was 1915, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Minot is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Minot in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Minot a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Minot in the SSA data are male. 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 Minot still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Minot 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 Minot 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Minot?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Minot, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.