Montana
Masculine · “mountain”
Montana is given to both — 4,040 boys and 8,815 girls since 1880. See Montana as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Montana is mountain, in Spanish and Latin — the state took the name in 1864 for the Rockies along its western edge, though most of it is plain.
How old is the name Montana?
Montana first appears in US birth records in 1942 — 83 years ago. The typical Montana alive today was born around 2001, making them about 24 years old. About 4,000 people named Montana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Montana most popular?
Montana peaked in 1995, reaching #769 nationally. Today it ranks #1520, 751 places below that high. See the whole 1995 chart.
Montana appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From mons to Montana
The story of Montana
Montana became a territory in 1864 and a state in 1889. American place-name naming produced Dakota, Cheyenne, Sierra and Montana together, and Montana rose sharply for both sexes from the 1980s. The masculine use is the older of the two in the registers and remains in current use.
Meaning
mountain, mountainous
From the Spanish montaña and the Latin montanus, 'mountainous', from mons, 'mountain'. A Congressman proposed the name for the territory in 1864; there was some objection that the eastern two-thirds is prairie, and the name was adopted anyway. The meaning is transparent.
How the name formed
- mons
- montanus
- montaña
- Montana
Related forms: Montaña · Montana · Montanus
Pronouncing Montana
mon-TAN-uh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Spanish montaña has a ny sound in the middle that English drops.
Nicknames for Montana
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
- 1942
- Most boys named
- 1995194 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #769reached in 1995
- Change vs 2024
- +11.8%114 in 2025, from 102
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
- Montana in Italian — same name
- Montanus in Latin — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Ohio, Georgia.
Montanas among us
people named Montana are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 14,983 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 Donta 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: Donta climbed just as high around 1978, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Donta's path sketches the road Montana is walking now.
Montana 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 Montana is headed
Montana 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.
Montana beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Montana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The mountain meaning is concrete, transparent and undisputed.
- Monty and Tana are two short forms with their own records.
- Three syllables with a strong middle, a rhythm that carries well.
- It is thoroughly unisex in America and does not signal sex on paper.
- The state association is total.
- A well-known film character carries the surname for many people.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Montana to the vote.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Montana
Masculine · #1520 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 4,000 people named Montana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Montana in 2025?
- Montana ranks #1520 among US boy names in 2025, with 114 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Montana?
- About 1 in every 14,983 US boys born in 2025 was named Montana — 114 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.
Zakaria#1520 · Summit#1520 · Karmelo#1520 · Barry#1520 · Maxim#1520 · Kallum#1520 · Tymir#1520 · Gilberto#1520
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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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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