Monte
A masculine name of Italian origin meaning "mountain".
Name Census estimates that about 17,558 living Americans carry the first name Monte. It is a predominantly male name (96.5% of registrations). The average person named Monte today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Monte births was 1957 (634 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Monte. 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 Monte with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Monte is used almost entirely for boys, the SSA data does show 828 girls registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
18K
~ 1 in 19,521 Americans
Peak year
1957
634 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,431
Tracked since 1881
Census
Monte in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 16,046 people with the first name Monte, which placed it at #1,824 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
#1,824
National first-name rank
People counted
16K
16,046 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Monte
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Monte is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Black (14.1%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Monte 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 Monte at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.7% · 12,300
- Black or African American14.1% · 2,261
- Two or more races3.5% · 558
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 540
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 269
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 118
Gender
Gender distribution for Monte
Monte leans heavily male at 96.5% of total registrations, but 828 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Monte as a male name
- Ranked #1,431 in 2024
- 127 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1956 (623 births)
Monte as a female name
- Ranked #10,788 in 2024
- 9 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1955 (27 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Monte leans strongly male. 15,497 people counted with this name were male (96.6%), compared with 548 female bearers (3.4%).
Popularity
Monte: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Monte from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 5,638 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Monte 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 Monte during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Montes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 42 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Monte, while New Jersey, District of Columbia, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 423 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Monte
The name Monte has its origins in the Italian language, deriving from the Latin word "mons," meaning "mountain." It emerged as a given name during the Middle Ages, primarily in the Italian regions, where the landscape is characterized by numerous mountain ranges.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Monte can be found in historical documents from the late 12th century, referring to a notable figure named Monte Porziano, a landowner and influential figure in the region of Tuscany. The name was commonly associated with individuals who resided in or near mountainous areas, reflecting their geographical surroundings.
In the 14th century, the name gained further prominence with the birth of Monte di Giovanni, a renowned Italian painter and architect. Born in Florence in 1386, he was celebrated for his contributions to the Renaissance art movement and his architectural designs for several churches and palaces across Italy.
The name Monte also holds significance in religious contexts. In the 16th century, Monte Poliziano, an Italian Catholic priest and scholar, gained recognition for his works on theology and his efforts in promoting education and learning. He lived from 1498 to 1567 and left a lasting impact on the intellectual discourse of his time.
Moving into the 18th century, Monte Cassino, a Benedictine monk and historian, played a crucial role in preserving the historical accounts of his monastery, located in the Italian town of Cassino. His meticulous records and writings, dating back to the early 1700s, have become invaluable sources for understanding the cultural and religious traditions of that era.
In more recent times, the name Monte has been associated with notable individuals such as Monte Melkonian, an Armenian-American revolutionary and military leader. Born in 1957, he played a pivotal role in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict, commanding forces that sought independence from Azerbaijan. His life and actions have become a symbol of courage and resistance for many Armenians worldwide.
While the name Monte has its roots in the Italian language and culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and has been adopted by various communities around the world, each contributing to its rich tapestry of meanings and associations.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Monte
People
Monte + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Monte 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
Monte: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Monte?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17,558 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Monte 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 19,521 US residents.
Is Monte a common name?
We classify Monte as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 23,865 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Monte most popular?
The single biggest year for Monte was 1957, when 634 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Monte is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Monte in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 16,046 people with the name Monte, or 5.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,824 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 Monte 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 Monte?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Monte leans strongly male. 15,497 people counted with this name were male (96.6%), compared with 548 female bearers (3.4%). 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 Monte?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Monte is White at 76.7%. The next largest groups are Black (14.1%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Monte most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Monte in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.7% (12,300 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 Monte in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Monte a male name?
Yes, 96.5% of people registered as Monte 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 Monte still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Monte 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 Monte 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 Monte?
Want to know how many people share the name Monte? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.