Mona
Feminine · “noble”
Mona is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 45,787 girls against 31 boys since 1880.
Mona is noble, in Irish — and it is also the Latin name of Anglesey, and an Italian courtesy title, and an Arabic word for a wish. Four languages arrive at the same four letters.
How old is the name Mona?
Mona was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Mona alive today was born around 1954, making them about 71 years old. About 30,000 people named Mona are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Mona most popular?
Mona peaked in 1950, reaching #230 nationally. Today it ranks #2778, 2,548 places below that high. See the whole 1950 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From muadh to Mona
The story of Mona
Muadhnait was an Irish name anglicized as Mona, and Irish emigration brought it to Britain and America. It was reinforced by the Welsh and Latin Mona for Anglesey and by the general familiarity of the Mona Lisa. American use rose through the 1890s and peaked around 1922.
Meaningscholars disagree
noble
The Irish Muadhnait, from muadh, 'noble', is the usual English source. Separately, Mona was the Roman name for Anglesey; the Italian monna is a contraction of madonna, 'my lady', which is where the Mona Lisa's name comes from; and the Arabic muna means 'wishes' or 'desires'. All four are real.
How the name formed
- muadh
- Muadhnait
- Mona
Related forms: Muadhnait · Muna · Monna · Môn
Pronouncing Mona
MOH-nuh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Arabic Muna uses a shorter first vowel.
Nicknames for Mona
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 19571,231 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #230reached in 1950
- Change vs 2022
- −30.7%61 in 2025, from 88
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Mona in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Muadhnait in Irish — related form
- Muna in Arabic — related form
- Monna in Italian — related form
- Môn in Welsh — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Monas among us
people named Mona are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,349 born in 2025 was named Mona
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Nadine test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Mona's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nadine climbed just as high around 1926, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nadine's path sketches the road Mona is walking now.
Mona sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Mona is headed
Mona should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Mona beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Mona in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four unrelated traditions can claim it, which gives it unusually wide reach.
- The Irish reading — noble — is transparent and attractive.
- Two clean syllables with no pronunciation risk.
- The Mona Lisa is an unavoidable association.
- The origins are genuinely multiple, so the name cannot promise one meaning.
- It is period-coded to the early twentieth century.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Mona
Feminine · #2778 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Monas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 30,000 people named Mona are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Mona in 2025?
- Mona ranks #2778 among US girl names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Mona?
- About 1 in every 26,349 US girls born in 2025 was named Mona — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Mona with classmates?
- Mona will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Mona
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenia#2778 · Amour#2778 · Wynona#2778 · Joie#2778 · Bennie#2778 · Havyn#2778 · Wisdom#2778 · Aela#2778
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Mona? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Mona and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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