Monico
A masculine name of Spanish origin meaning "little monk".
Name Census estimates that about 571 living Americans carry the first name Monico. It is a predominantly male name (97.9% of registrations). The average person named Monico today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Monico births was 1974 (20 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Monico. 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
571
~ 1 in 600,270 Americans
Peak year
1974
20 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,355
Tracked since 1912
Census
Monico in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,150 people with the first name Monico, which placed it at #11,260 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
#11,260
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,150 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
82.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Monico
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Monico is Hispanic at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.5%) and Black (3.0%). 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 Monico 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 Monico at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino82.4% · 948
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.5% · 121
- Black or African American3.0% · 35
- White2.3% · 26
- Two or more races1.0% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Monico
Monico leans heavily male at 97.9% of total registrations, but 17 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Monico as a male name
- Ranked #10,529 in 2024
- 7 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1977 (16 births)
Monico as a female name
- Ranked #8,355 in 1974
- 6 female births in 1974
- Peak: 1965 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Monico leans strongly male. 1,097 people counted with this name were male (96.1%), compared with 44 female bearers (3.9%).
Popularity
Monico: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Monico from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 124 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Monico 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 Monico during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Monicos live
Origin
Meaning and history of Monico
The name Monico is believed to have originated from the Latin name "Monicus," which itself is derived from the Latin word "monachus," meaning "monk." This suggests that the name may have initially been associated with monastic life or religious orders in early Christian communities.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Monico can be traced back to the 4th century, when it was borne by Saint Monico, a Christian martyr who was executed during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian. Saint Monico's unwavering faith and sacrifice for his beliefs likely contributed to the name's enduring legacy within Christian traditions.
In the 5th century, the name Monico gained further prominence with the birth of Saint Monica, the mother of the renowned philosopher and theologian Saint Augustine of Hippo. Saint Monica's profound influence on her son's spiritual journey and her own devotion to the Christian faith cemented the name's association with piety and religious devotion.
During the Middle Ages, the name Monico was particularly popular in parts of Europe, including Italy and Spain. One notable figure from this period was Monico di Siena, an Italian painter and architect who lived in the 13th century and contributed to the construction of several churches and monasteries in Siena.
In the 16th century, Monico Moreno was a Spanish sailor and explorer who accompanied Ferdinand Magellan on his famous voyage around the world. Moreno's participation in this historic expedition further spread the name's reach and recognition.
Another significant bearer of the name Monico was the Italian monk and scholar Monico Beccaria, who lived in the 18th century and made valuable contributions to the field of physics, particularly in the study of electricity and electrostatic phenomena.
Throughout history, the name Monico has maintained its ties to religious and monastic traditions, often borne by individuals associated with Christian orders or those who led lives of spiritual devotion. While its popularity may have waxed and waned over time, the name's roots in the Latin word "monachus" have endured, reflecting the enduring influence of monastic life on various cultures and societies.
People
Monico + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Monico 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
Monico: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Monico?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 571 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Monico 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 600,270 US residents.
Is Monico a common name?
We classify Monico as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 804 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Monico most popular?
The single biggest year for Monico was 1974, when 20 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Monico is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Monico in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,150 people with the name Monico, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,260 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 Monico 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 Monico?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Monico leans strongly male. 1,097 people counted with this name were male (96.1%), compared with 44 female bearers (3.9%). 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 Monico?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Monico is Hispanic at 82.4%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.5%) and Black (3.0%). 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 Monico most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Monico in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.4% (948 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 Monico in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Monico a male name?
Yes, 97.9% of people registered as Monico 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 Monico still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Monico 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 Monico 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 people share the name Monico?
Find out how many people have the name Monico on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.