Montoya
A Spanish surname denoting someone from the montaña or mountains.
Name Census estimates that about 599 living Americans carry the first name Montoya. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 81.4% of registrations being female. The average person named Montoya today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Montoya births was 1978 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Montoya. 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
599
~ 1 in 572,211 Americans
Peak year
1978
36 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2008 SSA rank
#13,947
Tracked since 1962
Gender
Gender distribution for Montoya
Montoya leans heavily female at 81.4% of total registrations, but 119 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Montoya as a male name
- Ranked #13,947 in 2008
- 5 male births in 2008
- Peak: 1978 (19 births)
Montoya as a female name
- Ranked #17,946 in 2004
- 5 female births in 2004
- Peak: 1991 (29 births)
Popularity
Montoya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Montoya from the 1960s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 246 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Montoya 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 Montoya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Montoyas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Montoya, while Georgia, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Montoya
Montoya is a Spanish given name with its origins traced back to the Medieval period in Spain. The name is believed to have been derived from the toponym "Montoya," which translates to "little mountain" in Spanish, suggesting that the earliest bearers of this name may have hailed from or lived in a mountainous region.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Montoya can be found in the 13th century, during the height of the Reconquista, when Christian kingdoms were gradually reclaiming territories from the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula. One notable figure from this era was Montoya de Cuenca, a renowned military commander who played a crucial role in the conquest of Valencia in 1238.
During the 16th and 17th centuries, as Spain expanded its colonial empire across the Americas, the name Montoya traveled with Spanish settlers and conquistadors. Hernán Cortés, the famous conqueror of the Aztec Empire, had a captain named Juan de Montoya who accompanied him on his expeditions to Mexico in the early 1500s.
In the realm of literature, the name Montoya gained prominence through Miguel de Cervantes' iconic novel "Don Quixote." One of the characters, Cardenio, was revealed to have been born with the name Montoya, though his true identity was shrouded in mystery for much of the story.
The 18th century saw the rise of Gaspar de Montoya, a Spanish Jesuit missionary who ventured into the heart of the Amazon rainforest, establishing missions and documenting the indigenous cultures he encountered. His writings provided invaluable insights into the lives of the native populations of South America.
Moving into the 19th century, Montoya became a popular name among the criollo elite in several Latin American countries. One notable figure was José María Montoya, a prominent Peruvian politician and military leader who played a key role in the fight for independence from Spain in the early 1800s.
Throughout history, the name Montoya has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, including artists, writers, and intellectuals. One such figure was Manuel Montoya, a renowned Mexican sculptor and painter who lived from 1858 to 1933, celebrated for his depictions of indigenous Mexican culture and traditions.
People
Montoya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Montoya 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
Montoya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Montoya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 599 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Montoya 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 572,211 US residents.
Is Montoya a common name?
We classify Montoya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 639 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Montoya most popular?
The single biggest year for Montoya was 1978, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Montoya is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Montoya a female name?
Yes, 81.4% of people registered as Montoya 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.
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.