Montana
A place name referring to mountainous regions.
Name Census estimates that about 12,022 living Americans carry the first name Montana. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 68.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Montana today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Montana births was 1998 (678 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Montana. 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 Montana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 28,511 Americans
Peak year
1998
678 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,058
Tracked since 1910
Census
Montana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 9,624 people with the first name Montana, which placed it at #2,526 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
#2,526
National first-name rank
People counted
9.6K
9,624 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Montana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Montana is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Hispanic (7.4%). 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 Montana 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 Montana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.6% · 7,088
- Black or African American9.1% · 875
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 710
- Two or more races6.3% · 604
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 220
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 127
Gender
Gender distribution for Montana
Montana is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 12,495 total registrations, 3,923 (31.4%) were male and 8,572 (68.6%) were female.
Montana as a male name
- Ranked #1,656 in 2024
- 102 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1995 (194 births)
Montana as a female name
- Ranked #1,058 in 2024
- 235 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1998 (496 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Montana on both sides of the split. Of the 9,613 people counted with this name, 2,835 were male (29.5%) and 6,778 were female (70.5%).
Popularity
Montana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Montana from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 4,569 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Montana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Montana 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 Montana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Montanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. Texas, California, Ohio recorded the most babies named Montana, while Nebraska, District of Columbia, Nevada recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 200 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Montana
The name Montana is derived from the Spanish word "montaña," meaning "mountain." This name has its roots in the Latinized form of the Italian word "montagna," which also means "mountain." The name's origins can be traced back to the late 15th century, during the Age of Exploration when European explorers ventured into the Americas.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Montana can be found in historical records from the 16th century, when Spanish conquistadors and explorers encountered the Rocky Mountains in the western part of North America. They referred to this mountainous region as "Montana," which later became the name of the U.S. state.
The name Montana has been associated with several notable figures throughout history. One of the earliest was Juan de la Montana (1510-1570), a Spanish explorer and conquistador who participated in the conquest of Mexico under Hernán Cortés.
In the 19th century, Montana became a popular name among Native American tribes, particularly the Blackfeet Nation, who inhabited the region now known as Montana. One famous bearer of the name was Montana Wildhorse (1838-1926), a respected Blackfeet leader and warrior.
Another notable figure with the name Montana was Montana Gale (1874-1952), an American silent film actress and screenwriter who appeared in over 100 films during the early 20th century.
In the realm of literature, Montana Wildhack (1892-1975) was an American author and journalist known for her novels set in the American West, including "The Chink" (1920) and "The Rocking Horse" (1924).
More recently, Montana Fishburne (born in 1991) gained notoriety as an American adult film actress and the daughter of acclaimed actor Laurence Fishburne.
While the name Montana is traditionally associated with the mountainous region of the western United States, its Spanish and Italian origins reflect the influences of European exploration and settlement in the Americas. Throughout history, the name has been borne by explorers, Native American leaders, artists, and writers, each contributing to the rich cultural tapestry surrounding this evocative name.
People
Montana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Montana 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
Montana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Montana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,022 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Montana 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 28,511 US residents.
Is Montana a common name?
We classify Montana as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,495 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Montana most popular?
The single biggest year for Montana was 1998, when 678 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Montana is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Montana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 9,624 people with the name Montana, or 3.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,526 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 Montana 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 Montana?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Montana on both sides of the split. Of the 9,613 people counted with this name, 2,835 were male (29.5%) and 6,778 were female (70.5%). 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 Montana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Montana is White at 73.6%. The next largest groups are Black (9.1%) and Hispanic (7.4%). 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 Montana most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Montana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.6% (7,088 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 Montana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Montana a female name?
Yes, 68.6% of people registered as Montana 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 Montana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Montana 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 Montana 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 Montana?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.