Monroe

Monroe: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“mouth of the Roe River”
Origin
Scottish Gaelic
Say it
mun-ROH · 2 syllables
Used for
Both (28% girls, 72% boys since 1880)

Transferred from a Scottish surname derived from Gaelic place-name elements. Best known through the surname of Marilyn Monroe.

How popular is Monroe?

2024205 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Monroe in 2024682

2024 rank#568 girls

Peak year1882

Total US babies since 188023,536

Monroe is rising: use over the last five years is 2.4× what it was a decade earlier.

Names like Monroe

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Finleyfair-haired hero · Scottish Gaelic
  • Lennoxelm grove · Scottish Gaelic
  • Blairplain; field · Scottish Gaelic
  • Lesliegarden of holly · Scottish Gaelic
  • Campbellcrooked mouth · Scottish Gaelic
  • Finnleyfair-haired hero · Scottish Gaelic
  • Mckinleyson of Fionnlaoch · Scottish Gaelic
  • Bowieyellow-haired · Scottish Gaelic

Monroe questions

What does the name Monroe mean?

Monroe means "mouth of the Roe River". It comes from Scottish Gaelic. Transferred from a Scottish surname derived from Gaelic place-name elements. Best known through the surname of Marilyn Monroe.

Is Monroe a boy or girl name?

Monroe is used for both: about 28% of US babies named Monroe since 1880 were girls.

How popular is Monroe?

682 US babies were named Monroe in 2024. Its peak year was 1882.

How do you pronounce Monroe?

Monroe is usually pronounced mun-ROH.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.