Monita
Feminine
Monita is a Latin word before it is a name: monita means warnings or precepts, and its best-known use is the Monita Secreta, a forged book of secret Jesuit instructions printed in Poland in the early seventeenth century. As a name it reads most plainly as Mona made small with a Spanish -ita, though the record does not confirm that.
How old is the name Monita?
Monita first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Monita alive today was born around 1963, making them about 62 years old. About 400 people named Monita are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Monita most popular?
Monita peaked in 1961, reaching #2839 nationally. See the whole 1961 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Monita
Our Monita has a longer record in American naming than most of its family, and a wider set of meanings around it than any. In Latin it is the plural of monitum, advice or warning, from the same verb as monitor, and its most famous use is the title of the Monita Secreta, a forged rulebook meant to discredit the Jesuits. In Spanish the same letters make a little monkey or, affectionately, a cute little girl. And in plain naming terms it is Mona made small the Spanish way, as Juanita is Juana made small. The name carries all of these lightly, and none is recorded as its reason.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No meaning is recorded for Monita as a name. In Latin, monita is the plural of monitum, a warning or piece of advice, from monere, to warn. In Spanish, monita is a little she-monkey and, in Spain, an affectionate word for cute. The name reads as Mona with the Spanish diminutive -ita, and no record confirms any of these as its source.
Pronouncing Monita
moh-NEE-tuh
Stress on the middle syllable, as in Juanita.
Nicknames for Monita
Limited
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
- 1914
- Most girls named
- 196119 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2839reached in 1961
- Change vs 1991
- −16.7%5 in 1992, from 6
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.
Monitas among us
people named Monita are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Monita sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Three open syllables with the familiar -ita ending, easy to say on sight.
- Rests on Mona, a name most people know.
- Rare in its own right.
- Spanish speakers will hear monita, a little monkey or a word for cute; it is affectionate in tone, but it is the first thing many will notice.
- Expect Moneta and Monica on forms.
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Monita
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Monitas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Monita are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Monita in 2025?
- Monita is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Monita with classmates?
- Monita will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Mary#125 · Margaret#112 · Michelle#465 · Melissa#419 · Maria#87 · Martha#712 · Marie#617 · Mildred#1962
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Monita? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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