Monfee
A Anglicized spelling of the Gaelic surname meaning son of the servant or squire.
According to the 2000 US Census Bureau surname tables, roughly 137 Americans carry the last name Monfee. That puts it at #137,816 in the national surname ranking, appearing at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 people (about 1 in 2,501,856 residents).
This page is the full Name Census profile for the Monfee 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.
Monfee appeared in the 2000 Census surname file but was not included in the published 2020 file. The Census Bureau only publishes surnames with at least 100 recorded bearers, so this usually means the name fell below that threshold.
Bearers in the US
137
1 in 2,501,856
Census rank
#137,816
2000 decennial data
Per 100,000
0.0
Frequency rate
Recorded bearers
112
very rare in the US
Popularity narrative
The Census Bureau recorded 112 bearers of the surname Monfee in its 2000 decennial surname file. At a rate of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, it holds the 137816th position in the national surname ranking.
Among Census respondents with the surname Monfee, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.1%.
Origin
Meaning and origin of Monfee
The surname Monfee most likely originates from the region of France, specifically from the medieval period around the 12th or 13th centuries. This name is thought to be a variation or derivation of the ancient French word "monfée," which translates to "my fairy" or "my enchantress," suggesting an association with mythical or enchanting qualities.
Monfee appears to have strong ties to rural areas of France, particularly in the northern regions such as Normandy and Brittany. In these regions, surnames often evolved from nicknames or descriptive terms related to personal characteristics or occupations. The term "monfée" likely served as a nickname or term of endearment that eventually evolved into a hereditary surname.
Historical references to the surname Monfee are rare, but one of the earliest recorded examples appears in a 13th-century manuscript from Brittany which mentions a Guillaume Monfee, a small landowner who lived around 1275. Records from the medieval period are sparse, but this mention suggests that the name was in use at least by the late medieval era.
During the 14th and 15th centuries, the Monfee family appeared sporadically in other regional documents. For example, in 1348, the name Pierre Monfee is listed as a witness to a land transaction in Normandy. Another notable reference is Jeanne Monfee, born in 1392, who is documented in a marriage contract from the town of Caen in 1410. These records illustrate the geographic spread and continuity of the surname in northern France.
The name Monfee also appears in military records from the Hundred Years' War period. A soldier named Jacques Monfee is recorded in a muster roll from 1435, suggesting that members of the Monfee family were involved in the lengthy conflict between England and France.
In the 16th century, references to the name Monfee became more prominent. Charles Monfee, born in 1504, is noted in tax records from Rouen and was known for his role in local governance. His lineage continued to have a local presence, as indicated by administrative records from the early 17th century, which mention a Claude Monfee who served as a magistrate in 1621.
Throughout history, individuals with the surname Monfee have not been widely documented but have appeared consistently in records that span from the medieval period into early modern European history. This suggests that while the name has never been exceedingly common, it has had a continuous albeit low-profile presence in parts of France over several centuries.
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Monfee
Among Census respondents with the surname Monfee, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.1%.
The bar chart below shows how Monfee bearers described their own race and ethnicity on the 2000 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 Monfee surname at the time of the 2000 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White99.1%
- Unknown or suppressed0.9%
FAQ
Monfee surname: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. have the surname Monfee?
Name Census estimates that about 137 living Americans carry the surname Monfee. Using the current population baseline, that works out to roughly 1 in 2,501,856 residents.
How common is Monfee?
Monfee ranks #137,816 in the 2000 Census surname tables and is classified on this site as "Very Rare." The Census recorded the name at a frequency of 0.04 per 100,000 residents, which is about 0 people out of every 100,000.
How many people with this surname were counted in the Census?
The raw 2000 Census file counted 112 people with the surname Monfee. That is different from the site's living-bearer estimate (137), which projects the surname's present-day count by applying the Census frequency rate to the current U.S. population.
What does 0.04 per 100,000 actually mean?
It is the Census Bureau's normalized frequency measure. A rate of 0.04 per 100,000 means that if you picked a random group of 100,000 U.S. residents, you would expect about 0 of them to have the surname Monfee.
Has Monfee become more or less common over time?
Monfee appears here with 2000 Census data. When additional surname-file years are available for this name, Name Census uses them to show longer-term movement in rank and bearer count.
What does the Census say about the background of Monfee?
Among Census respondents with the surname Monfee, the largest self-reported group is White at 99.1%. These figures come from the 2000 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 Monfee in the 2000 Census, accounting for 99.1%.
What is the full ancestry breakdown?
Monfee appears across multiple self-reported groups in the Census data. The largest shares in the 2000 file are White (99.1%).
Is this page using the latest Census data?
Not necessarily. Monfee appears here with 2000 Census data, while the latest surname file loaded on Name Census is 2020. When a surname drops below the Census publication threshold, older rows can still be kept for historical reference even if the name no longer appears in the newest file.
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 Monfee mean?
A Anglicized spelling of the Gaelic surname meaning son of the servant or squire. 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 2000 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 Monfee (0.04 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 many people share the surname Monfee?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.