Montserrat
Montserrat is a feminine name derived from the Spanish term meaning "serrated mountain".
Name Census estimates that about 5,447 living Americans carry the first name Montserrat. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Montserrat today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Montserrat births was 2014 (534 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Montserrat. 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.
Key insights
- • Montserrat is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
5.4K
~ 1 in 62,925 Americans
Peak year
2014
534 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,465
Tracked since 1963
Census
Montserrat in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,405 people with the first name Montserrat, which placed it at #4,304 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
#4,304
National first-name rank
People counted
4.4K
4,405 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Montserrat
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Montserrat is Hispanic at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). 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 Montserrat 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 Montserrat at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.3% · 4,240
- White2.7% · 118
- Two or more races0.4% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 15
- Black or African American0.2% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Popularity
Montserrat: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Montserrat from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,744 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Montserrat remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Montserrat 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 Montserrat during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Montserrats live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Montserrat, while South Carolina, New Mexico, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 184 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Montserrat
The name Montserrat originates from the Catalan language and culture, with its roots dating back to the 9th century. It is derived from the words "mont" meaning mountain and "serrat" meaning serrated or jagged, referring to the distinctive serrated appearance of the Montserrat mountain range near Barcelona, Spain.
Montserrat is closely associated with the Benedictine abbey of Santa Maria de Montserrat, which was founded in the 11th century and houses a renowned Black Madonna statue known as the Virgin of Montserrat. This abbey and the surrounding mountain range have been significant religious and cultural sites for centuries, attracting pilgrims and visitors from around the world.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Montserrat can be found in the 13th-century Catalan romance "Curial e Güelfa," where it is mentioned as a female name. Throughout history, the name has been predominantly bestowed upon women, although it has occasionally been used for men as well.
Notable historical figures with the name Montserrat include Montserrat Caballé (1933-2018), a renowned Spanish operatic soprano celebrated for her interpretations of bel canto roles. Montserrat Roig (1946-1991) was a celebrated Catalan writer and journalist known for her novels and essays on social and political issues.
Montserrat Fontcuberta (1873-1959) was a Catalan painter and educator who played a significant role in promoting arts education in Barcelona. Montserrat Tura (1944-2021) was a Spanish actress and activist who appeared in numerous films and television shows, and was also known for her advocacy work for LGBTQ+ rights.
Montserrat Torrent (1926-2013) was a Spanish actress and voice actress who lent her voice to numerous animated films and television series, including the Spanish dubs of Disney classics. Montserrat Granger (1886-1960) was a Spanish nun and missionary who lived and worked in the Philippines, and is recognized as a Servant of God by the Catholic Church.
People
Montserrat + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Montserrat 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
Montserrat: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Montserrat?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,447 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Montserrat 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 62,925 US residents.
Is Montserrat a common name?
We classify Montserrat as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,508 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Montserrat most popular?
The single biggest year for Montserrat was 2014, when 534 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Montserrat is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Montserrat in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,405 people with the name Montserrat, or 1.46 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,304 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 Montserrat 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 Montserrat?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Montserrat appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,408 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Montserrat?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Montserrat is Hispanic at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (2.7%) and Two or More Races (0.4%). 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 Montserrat most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Montserrat in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.3% (4,240 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 Montserrat in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Montserrat a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Montserrat 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.
Is Montserrat still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Montserrat 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 Montserrat 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 the name Montserrat?
You can see how many Americans are named Montserrat on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.