Montell
A masculine name of French origin meaning "little mountain".
Name Census estimates that about 822 living Americans carry the first name Montell. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Montell today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Montell births was 1995 (79 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Montell. 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 Montell with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
822
~ 1 in 416,976 Americans
Peak year
1995
79 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,556
Tracked since 1914
Census
Montell in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 696 people with the first name Montell, which placed it at #16,263 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
#16,263
National first-name rank
People counted
696
696 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
81.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Montell
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Montell is Black at 81.3%. The next largest groups are White (10.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Montell 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 Montell at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American81.3% · 566
- White10.3% · 72
- Two or more races4.3% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 1
Popularity
Montell: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Montell 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 326 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
Montell 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 Montell during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Montells live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Illinois, South Carolina, New York recorded the most babies named Montell, while Pennsylvania, Ohio, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Montell
Montell is a given name with origins in the French language. It is a variation of the name Montel, which itself is derived from the Old French word "mont," meaning "hill" or "mountain." The earliest recorded use of the name Montell dates back to the 12th century in medieval France.
During the Middle Ages, the name Montell was commonly used in regions of France where there were prominent hills or mountains. It was often given to children born in these areas as a way to connect them to their local geography and surroundings. The name may have also been used to denote a person who lived near or worked on a hill or mountain.
In the 13th century, a notable figure named Montell de Montpellier was a renowned physician and scholar who made significant contributions to the field of medicine. He is believed to have been born in the city of Montpellier, which is located in the hilly region of southern France.
Another historical figure named Montell was a French soldier who fought in the Hundred Years' War between England and France in the 14th century. Records indicate that he served under the command of Joan of Arc, the famous military leader and Catholic saint.
In the 16th century, a French explorer named Montell de Monts was among the first Europeans to establish settlements in what is now eastern Canada. He founded the colony of Acadia, which later became part of the French territory in North America.
A notable figure in the realm of literature was Montell Rousseau, a French writer and philosopher born in the late 17th century. He is best known for his influential works on education and his critiques of societal norms during the Enlightenment period.
Moving into the 19th century, Montell Durand was a French architect who gained recognition for his innovative designs and contributions to the Neoclassical architectural style. Some of his most famous works include the Grand Théâtre de Bordeaux and the Palais de la Bourse in Paris.
People
Montell + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Montell 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
Montell: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Montell?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 822 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Montell 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 416,976 US residents.
Is Montell a common name?
We classify Montell as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 881 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Montell most popular?
The single biggest year for Montell was 1995, when 79 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Montell is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Montell in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 696 people with the name Montell, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,263 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 Montell 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 Montell?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Montell leans strongly male. 667 people counted with this name were male (95.3%), compared with 33 female bearers (4.7%). 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 Montell?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Montell is Black at 81.3%. The next largest groups are White (10.3%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). 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 Montell most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Montell in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.3% (566 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 Montell in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Montell a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Montell 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 Montell still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Montell 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 Montell 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 have Montell as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Montell, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.