Montgomery
A masculine French name meaning "mountain town" or "hill town".
Name Census estimates that about 5,261 living Americans carry the first name Montgomery. It is a predominantly male name (91.2% of registrations). The average person named Montgomery today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Montgomery births was 2023 (245 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Montgomery. 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 Montgomery with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.3K
~ 1 in 65,150 Americans
Peak year
2023
245 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,090
Tracked since 1880
Census
Montgomery in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,933 people with the first name Montgomery, which placed it at #4,654 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
#4,654
National first-name rank
People counted
3.9K
3,933 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Montgomery
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Montgomery is White at 78.0%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.0% · 3,069
- Black or African American7.2% · 285
- Two or more races6.5% · 256
- Hispanic or Latino5.4% · 214
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 51
Gender
Gender distribution for Montgomery
Montgomery leans heavily male at 91.2% of total registrations, but 527 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Montgomery as a male name
- Ranked #1,090 in 2024
- 199 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (210 births)
Montgomery as a female name
- Ranked #6,071 in 2024
- 20 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (42 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Montgomery leans strongly male. 3,571 people counted with this name were male (91.0%), compared with 355 female bearers (9.0%).
Popularity
Montgomery: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Montgomery from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,282 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Montgomery 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 Montgomery during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Montgomerys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Montgomery, while Louisiana, Kentucky, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 65 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Montgomery
The name Montgomery has its origins in the Old French language, derived from the combination of the words "mont" meaning "hill" and "gomer" meaning "man." It is believed to have emerged sometime in the 11th or 12th century, initially used as a surname or place name.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name can be traced back to the Norman conquest of England in the late 11th century. During this period, Norman nobles and knights bearing the name Montgomery were granted lands and titles in various parts of England and Wales.
Historically, the name Montgomery has been associated with several notable figures. One of the most prominent was Roger de Montgomery, a Norman nobleman who played a significant role in the Norman conquest of England alongside William the Conqueror in 1066. Roger de Montgomery was granted extensive lands and became the Earl of Shrewsbury and Arundel.
Another notable figure was Sir John Montgomery, a Scottish nobleman born in the late 15th century, who served as a Lord of the Privy Council and was involved in the Scottish Reformation. He was also a trusted advisor to King James IV of Scotland.
In the 17th century, Robert Montgomery, a Scottish poet and religious writer, gained recognition for his works such as "The Cherrie and the Slae" and "The Poetical Works of Robert Montgomery." He was born around 1635 and made significant contributions to Scottish literature.
In the field of military history, Richard Montgomery, an Irish-born soldier who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, played a pivotal role. He was born in 1738 and was killed in the Battle of Quebec in 1775, where he attempted to capture the city from British forces.
Another notable figure was Bernard Montgomery, a British army officer and field marshal who served during World War II. Born in 1887, he is best known for his leadership in the North African and European campaigns, particularly his role in the Battle of El Alamein and the Normandy landings.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Montgomery
People
Montgomery + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Montgomery 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
Montgomery: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Montgomery?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,261 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Montgomery 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 65,150 US residents.
Is Montgomery a common name?
We classify Montgomery as "Rare". It ranks above 96.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,986 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Montgomery most popular?
The single biggest year for Montgomery was 2023, when 245 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Montgomery is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Montgomery in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,933 people with the name Montgomery, or 1.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,654 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 Montgomery 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 Montgomery?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Montgomery leans strongly male. 3,571 people counted with this name were male (91.0%), compared with 355 female bearers (9.0%). 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 Montgomery?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Montgomery is White at 78.0%. The next largest groups are Black (7.2%) and Two or More Races (6.5%). 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 Montgomery most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Montgomery in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.0% (3,069 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 Montgomery in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Montgomery a male name?
Yes, 91.2% of people registered as Montgomery 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 Montgomery still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Montgomery 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 Montgomery 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 are named Montgomery?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Montgomery, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.