Monay
A feminine name of uncertain origin, perhaps related to Latin words meaning "advise" or "warn".
Name Census estimates that about 512 living Americans carry the first name Monay. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Monay today is around 28 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Monay births was 1996 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Monay. 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.
People living today
512
~ 1 in 669,442 Americans
Peak year
1996
36 babies that year
Average age
28
years old
2018 SSA rank
#17,381
Tracked since 1982
Popularity
Monay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Monay from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 239 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
Monay 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 Monay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Monays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Monay, while Illinois, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Monay
The name Monay originates from the ancient Gaulish language spoken by Celtic tribes in what is now modern-day France, Belgium, and parts of the Netherlands during the Iron Age period (800 BC to 50 BC). It is derived from the Proto-Celtic root word *mon-īko, which means "unique" or "solitary."
In the early medieval period, the name was recorded in various forms such as Monicus, Monikus, and Monacus among the Franks and other Germanic tribes that inhabited the regions of Gaul after the fall of the Roman Empire. It is likely that the name was adopted and adapted by these tribes from the local Gaulish population.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Monay was Monicus of Nantes, a Frankish monk and hagiographer who lived in the 9th century AD. He is best known for his biography of Saint Benedictus of Aniane, a prominent Benedictine reformer and close advisor to the Carolingian emperor Louis the Pious.
In the 11th century, a notable bearer of the name was Monay of Arles, a Provençal troubadour and poet who composed several lyrical works in the Occitan language. His poems were widely circulated and influential in the development of courtly love literature during the High Middle Ages.
During the Renaissance period, Monay Dufour (1510-1572) was a French Protestant reformer and theologian from Geneva. He was a close associate of John Calvin and played a significant role in the spread of Calvinism throughout Europe.
In the 18th century, Monay Delisle (1720-1786) was a French explorer and cartographer who is best known for his contributions to the mapping of North America, particularly the Mississippi River basin and the Great Lakes region.
Another notable figure was Monay Descartes (1796-1872), a French philosopher and mathematician who is regarded as one of the key figures in the Scientific Revolution and the development of modern Western philosophy. He is famous for his philosophical statement, "I think, therefore I am" (Cogito, ergo sum).
People
Monay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Monay 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
Monay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Monay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 512 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Monay 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 669,442 US residents.
Is Monay a common name?
We classify Monay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 526 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Monay most popular?
The single biggest year for Monay was 1996, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Monay is about 28 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Monay a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Monay 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.
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.