Montana
Feminine · Latin roots · “mountainous”
Montana is given to both — 8,815 girls and 4,040 boys since 1880. See Montana as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Montana began as a Latin word for mountainous country, traveled through Spanish, and was fixed to a map of the northern Rockies in the 1860s. As a given name it has been on American records since the early twentieth century — long enough to have a vintage streak of its own — and it has been rising again lately. Three clear syllables, ending on the same open vowel as Anna and Luna.
How old is the name Montana?
Montana first appears in US birth records in 1910 — 115 years ago. The typical Montana alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 8,500 people named Montana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Montana most popular?
Montana peaked in 1998, reaching #510 nationally. Today it ranks #1033, 523 places below that high. See the whole 1998 chart.
Where it comes from
From montanus (Latin) to Montana
The story of Montana
The word behind the name is Latin: montanus, 'of the mountains', which passed into Spanish as montaña and was used by Spanish speakers in the Americas long before any territory carried it. Congressman James M. Ashley proposed Montana as the name of the new territory in the 1860s, and it became a state in 1889. Like Dakota, Virginia and Georgia before it, the place name then crossed over into use as a personal name — American parents have borrowed from the map for as long as there has been a map. It has appeared in US birth records since the early twentieth century, quietly and steadily, for girls and for boys.
Meaning
mountainous, of the mountains
From Latin montanus, the adjective from mons, 'mountain'; the same root gives Spanish montaña and Italian montagna.
How the name formed
- montanusLatin
- montañaSpanish
- MontanaUS territory and state
- Montanagiven name
Related forms: Montaña · Montano
Pronouncing Montana
mon-TAN-uh
Stress on the middle syllable, exactly as the state is said in American English. Spanish speakers may reach for the ñ sound of montaña, giving mon-TAH-nya.
Nicknames for Montana
High
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
- 1910
- Most girls named
- 1999462 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #510reached in 1998
- Change vs 2023
- +39.1%242 in 2025, from 174
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.
Montana in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Montaña in Spanish — related form
- Montano in Italian — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Pennsylvania, California.
Montanas among us
people named Montana are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 6,642 born in 2025 was named Montana
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 Sandi test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Montana's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sandi climbed just as high around 1959, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sandi's path sketches the road Montana is walking now.
Montana is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Montana is headed
Montana looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 29% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Montana beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Montana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The spelling is already known to everyone who has seen a US map, so it rarely needs repeating or correcting.
- Pronunciation is fixed and unambiguous for American English speakers — one reading, no variants to defend.
- Used for both girls and boys in US records, and rare enough on either side that it arrives without a crowd.
- Established short forms exist: Monty and Tana are both in real use.
- The Latin and Spanish roots keep it recognizable well beyond English.
- It is a state before it is a name for most people, so expect the question of whether the family has a connection to Montana — and to hear it as a geography reference now and then.
- Montana is also a well-known surname in American sports and in film, which some listeners will think of first.
- A Disney Channel series that ran in the late 2000s put the name in front of a generation of children; anyone who grew up with it may make that link.
- Because the name gives no gender signal, forms and rosters that expect one may guess wrong until people meet the child.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Montana
Feminine · Latin roots · #1033 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Montanas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,500 people named Montana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Montana in 2025?
- Montana ranks #1033 among US girl names in 2025, with 242 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Montana?
- About 1 in every 6,642 US girls born in 2025 was named Montana — 242 in all.
- Will my child share the name Montana with classmates?
- Montana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Montana
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Elliot#1034 · Bernadette#1034 · Mikaela#1034 · Jovi#1034 · Naiari#1029 · Alexa#1029 · Jolie#1029 · Ripley#1029
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Montana? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Montana and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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