2000
#7,228
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,257
First available Census row
Per 100,000 1.58
Rare Last name
Monte
A toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near or on a mountain or hill.
According to the 2020 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 4,794 Americans carry the last name Monte. That puts it at #7,630 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 1.40 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 71,497 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Monte surname. You will find the Census Bureau frequency data, a multi-census history view, an ancestry and ethnicity breakdown based on self-reported demographics, the name's meaning and origin where available, and answers to the most common questions people ask about this surname.
For British records, Name Census UK has a British surname profile for Monte with 1881 census detail, origin facts and modern UK distribution where available.
Bearers in the US
4.8K
1 in 71,497
Census rank
#7,630
2020 decennial data
Per 100,000
1.4
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
4.2K
rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 4,181 bearers of the surname Monte in its 2020 decennial surname file. At a rate of 1.40 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 7630th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Monte, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%).
Origin
Meaning and origin of Monte
The surname Monte originated in Italy during the medieval period, derived from the Italian word "monte," meaning "hill" or "mountain." This name is believed to have been initially adopted by individuals residing near or on a prominent hill or mountain, serving as a locational identifier.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the Monte surname can be found in the Florentine Codex, a 16th-century ethnographic work compiled by the Franciscan friar Bernardino de Sahagún, which references a person named Giovanni di Monte.
The Monte surname has also been documented in various historical records, including the Catasto Fiorentino, a tax census conducted in Florence, Italy, in the 15th century. This census listed several families bearing the Monte surname, suggesting its widespread usage in the region during that period.
Notables throughout history who carried the Monte surname include:
1. Pietro da Monte (c. 1457-1522), an Italian Renaissance architect and sculptor known for his work on the Palazzo Strozzi in Florence.
2. Guido del Monte (1545-1607), an Italian Catholic cardinal who later became Pope Sixtus V from 1585 to 1590.
3. Filippo del Monte (1520-1589), an Italian Renaissance composer and music theorist, best known for his madrigals and motets.
4. Guidobaldo del Monte (1545-1607), an Italian nobleman, mathematician, and military engineer who contributed to the development of mechanics and physics.
5. Giuseppe del Monte (1624-1708), an Italian painter and art theorist active in the Baroque period, known for his religious and mythological works.
The Monte surname has also been associated with various place names throughout Italy, such as Monte San Savino in Tuscany, Monte Castello in Umbria, and Monte Sant'Angelo in Puglia, among others. These place names may have influenced the adoption of the Monte surname by individuals residing in or near these locations.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Monte
Among Census respondents with the surname Monte, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%).
The bar chart below shows how Monte bearers 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 surname, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown for every Census year so the breakdown stays comparable over time. When the source file also includes raw headcounts, Name Census shows those alongside the percentages in the legend.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A person's surname does not determine their race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the Monte surname at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.6% · 2,869
- Hispanic or Latino15.7% · 658
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 212
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.9% · 206
- Black or African American3.1% · 129
- Two or more races2.6% · 107
Timeline
Historical Census data for Monte
Monte appears in 3 published Census surname files: 2000, 2010, 2020. The cards below show how the name's rank and bearer count changed across each release.
2010
#7,317
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,560
+303 bearers (+7.1%)
Per 100,000 1.55
Rank movement Down 89 places
2020
#7,630
National surname rank
Recorded bearers 4,181
-379 bearers (-8.3%)
Per 100,000 1.40
Rank movement Down 313 places
| Year | Rank | Count | Per 100K | Count change | Rank change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | #7,228 | 4,257 | 1.58 | First available Census row | First available Census row |
| 2010 | #7,317 | 4,560 | 1.55 | +303 bearers (+7.1%) | Down 89 places |
| 2020 | #7,630 | 4,181 | 1.40 | -379 bearers (-8.3%) | Down 313 places |
For 2020, the Census Bureau published race and Hispanic-origin columns as counts rather than percentages. Name Census converts those counts back into shares so the ancestry section stays comparable with the older surname files.
Year on year
2010 vs 2020 Census
How has the Monte surname changed between Census years? The chart shows bearer count side by side, and the table compares rank, count, and frequency.
Census year comparison
20102020
| Metric | 2010 | 2020 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rank | #7,317 | #7,630 | -4.3% |
| Count | 4,560 | 4,181 | -8.3% |
| Per 100K | 1.55 | 1.40 | -9.8% |
Between the 2010 and 2020 Census, the number of Monte bearers went from 4,560 to 4,181 (-8.3% change). The surname moved down 313 positions in the national ranking, going from #7,317 to #7,630.
FAQ
Monte surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Monte?
Name Census estimates that about 4,794 living Americans carry the surname Monte. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 71,497 residents.
How common is Monte?
Monte ranks #7,630 in the 2020 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 1.40 per 100,000 residents, which is about 1 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2020 Census file counted 4,181 people with the surname Monte. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (4,794), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 1.4 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 1.40 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 1 of them to have the surname Monte.
Has Monte become more or less common over time?
Between 2010 and 2020, the surname Monte went from 4,560 recorded bearers to 4,181. That is a decrease of 379 (-8.3%). In the national ranking it fell from #7,317 to #7,630.
What does the Census say about the background of Monte?
Among Census respondents with the surname Monte, the largest self-reported group is White at 68.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). These figures come from the 2020 Census Bureau surname tables, based on how respondents described their own race and ethnicity.
Which group reports this surname most often?
White is the largest self-reported group for the surname Monte in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.6% (2,869 people in the source table).
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Monte appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2020 file are White (68.6%), Hispanic (15.7%), Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). For 2020, the source file also published raw headcounts for each group, which is why this page can show both percentages and counts in the ancestry section.
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Yes. This page is using the latest surname file currently loaded on Name Census, which is 2020. The historical section above also keeps any older Census surname entries we have for Monte (2000, 2010, 2020).
Does the Census include every surname?
No. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames that appeared at least 100 times in a given decennial Census. That means very rare surnames are excluded entirely, and a surname can appear in one Census release but disappear from a later one if it falls below the reporting threshold.
Why don't the ancestry percentages always add up to exactly 100%?
There are two main reasons: rounding and suppression. The Census Bureau rounds published values, and it may suppress very small cells to protect privacy. For 2020, the Bureau also published raw group counts rather than direct percentages, so Name Census converts those counts back into shares for comparability across census years.
What does Monte mean?
A toponymic surname referring to someone who lived near or on a mountain or hill. The fuller origin note on this page goes into more detail.
Where does the surname data come from?
All surname statistics on Name Census are drawn from the US Census Bureau's decennial surname frequency tables. These files list every surname that appeared 100 or more times in the 2020 Census, along with a count, a per-100,000 rate, and a self-reported demographic breakdown. You can read the full explanation on our methodology page.
How does Name Census estimate living bearers?
For surnames, Name Census does not age cohorts the way it does for first names. Instead, it takes the Census Bureau's published frequency for Monte (1.40 per 100,000) and applies that rate to the current U.S. resident population to estimate how many living Americans have the surname today.
How common is the surname Monte?
Want to know how many people are called Monte? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.