Monroe
From the French word "Monroë" meaning "hill by the river mouth".
Name Census estimates that about 12,974 living Americans carry the first name Monroe. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 71.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Monroe today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Monroe births was 2021 (776 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Monroe. 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 Monroe with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Monroe started out as a boys' name but over the decades crossed over and is now given to girls far more often.
People living today
13K
~ 1 in 26,419 Americans
Peak year
2021
776 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#571
Tracked since 1880
Census
Monroe in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,582 people with the first name Monroe, which placed it at #2,729 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
#2,729
National first-name rank
People counted
8.6K
8,582 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Monroe
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Monroe is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Black (23.5%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Monroe 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 Monroe at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.0% · 5,237
- Black or African American23.5% · 2,013
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 647
- Two or more races6.0% · 514
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 87
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 84
Gender
Gender distribution for Monroe
Monroe is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 23,536 total registrations, 16,933 (71.9%) were male and 6,603 (28.1%) were female.
Monroe as a male name
- Ranked #1,282 in 2024
- 153 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1921 (375 births)
Monroe as a female name
- Ranked #571 in 2024
- 529 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (587 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Monroe on both sides of the split. Of the 8,580 people counted with this name, 5,022 were male (58.5%) and 3,558 were female (41.5%).
Popularity
Monroe: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Monroe 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 4,497 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Monroe remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Monroe 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 Monroe during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Monroes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 44 states and territories. Texas, New York, California recorded the most babies named Monroe, while Maine, Delaware, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 375 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Monroe
The given name Monroe has its origins in the Gaelic language, derived from the Scottish surname "Munro" or "Monro". The name is believed to have emerged during the medieval period in Scotland.
The name Munro is thought to be a combination of two Gaelic words, "munn" meaning "hill" or "mountain", and "rath" meaning "circle" or "fort". This suggests that the name may have originated from a geographic location or a fortified settlement on a hill.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Monroe can be found in the 14th century, with Sir Donald Munro, a Scottish knight who fought in the Battle of Halidon Hill in 1333. Another notable historical figure bearing this name was Robert Munro, a Scottish soldier and military writer who lived in the 17th century (1633-1704).
In the United States, the name Monroe gained prominence due to the fifth President of the United States, James Monroe (1758-1831). His presidency, known as the "Era of Good Feelings," was marked by significant territorial expansion and the proclamation of the Monroe Doctrine, which became a cornerstone of American foreign policy.
Another famous individual with the name Monroe was Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962), an American actress, model, and singer who became a major pop culture icon of the 20th century. Her glamorous persona and tragic life story have made her one of the most recognizable figures in Hollywood history.
Other notable individuals with the name Monroe include:
1. Bill Monroe (1911-1996), an American singer-songwriter and mandolin player, known as the "Father of Bluegrass Music".
2. Vaughn Monroe (1911-1973), an American singer, trumpeter, and actor, best known for his hit song "Ghost Riders in the Sky".
3. Harriet Monroe (1860-1936), an American poet and editor, known for founding the influential literary magazine "Poetry".
4. Golda Meir (born Golda Mabovitch, 1898-1978), an Israeli politician and the fourth Prime Minister of Israel, who was born with the first name Monroe.
The name Monroe has been used across various cultures and time periods, reflecting its Scottish origins and its adoption in other parts of the world, particularly in the United States, where it gained prominence through historical figures and cultural icons.
People
Monroe + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Monroe 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
Monroe: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Monroe?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12,974 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Monroe 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 26,419 US residents.
Is Monroe a common name?
We classify Monroe as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 23,536 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Monroe most popular?
The single biggest year for Monroe was 2021, when 776 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Monroe is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Monroe in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,582 people with the name Monroe, or 2.84 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,729 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 Monroe 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 Monroe?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Monroe on both sides of the split. Of the 8,580 people counted with this name, 5,022 were male (58.5%) and 3,558 were female (41.5%). 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 Monroe?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Monroe is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Black (23.5%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Monroe most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Monroe in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.0% (5,237 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 Monroe in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Monroe a male name?
Yes, 71.9% of people registered as Monroe 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 Monroe still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Monroe 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 Monroe 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 Americans are named Monroe?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.