Montell
Masculine
Montell joins a French hill to an ending that came off English surnames, and the result belongs to neither language. It sat almost flat in the record for seventy years and then jumped.
How old is the name Montell?
Montell first appears in US birth records in 1914 — 111 years ago. The typical Montell alive today was born around 1995, making them about 30 years old. About 800 people named Montell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Montell most popular?
Montell peaked in 1995, reaching #1319 nationally. See the whole 1995 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Montell
A name can exist quietly for generations and then move suddenly, and when that happens there is almost always one person in front of a camera. The curve is unmistakable: decades of a handful of children a year, then a steep climb inside five years, then a slow fall. What the record cannot show is that the person who caused it spelled the name differently — with one l rather than two — so that the version that rose is not quite the version that was famous. That happens constantly. Parents hear a name, write it their own way, and the record ends up with a family of spellings clustered around a peak that belongs, strictly, to none of them.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The front is the French word for a hill, which opens dozens of Norman surnames. The ending is an American suffix. Neither carries a meaning into this name, which was built rather than inherited.
Pronouncing Montell
mon-TELL
Two syllables with the stress at the back. The doubled l is not audible.
Nicknames for Montell
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
- 1914
- Most boys named
- 199579 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1319reached in 1995
- Change vs 2023
- +33.3%8 in 2024, 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.
Montells among us
people named Montell 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
Montell 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
- The back stress makes it carry and resists clipping.
- It is read correctly on sight with nothing difficult in it.
- It has a familiar and friendly short form available.
- Montel with one l is the better-known spelling and his will be written that way.
- The name is dated fairly precisely by its own record.
- Neither half carries a meaning.
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Montell
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Montells are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Montell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Montell in 2025?
- Montell is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Montell with classmates?
- Montell will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More M names
The most-given names starting with M, all years combined.
Michael#21 · Matthew#32 · Mark#244 · Mason#39 · Martin#335 · Marvin#699 · Melvin#958 · Marcus#258
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Montell? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Montell and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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