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Monika

#6,477 in 2025Girls' name

Form of Monica

Monika has been given to 9,810 babies in the U.S. since 1942. In 2025 it ranked #6,477 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1990, with 257 recorded.

Babies named Monika, 2025

1 in 184,000

Monika over time, 1880–2025

Girls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Monika: meaning, origin, and history

Form of Monica

Latin

What Monika means

Monika is a form of Monica.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

A less common spelling of Monica, used since the twentieth century.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Monika (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Monika is used in English, Czech, Danish, Estonian, Faroese, Finnish, French and German and additional language sections. Its origins include Latin.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Monica.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Monika is pronounced /ˈmɒ.nɪ.kə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 9,810 girls were recorded with the name Monika between 1942 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 257 in 1990; its best national rank was #707 in 1978.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #4,236 in 2020 to #6,477 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #3,421 in 2015 to #6,477 in 2025.

How common is Monika?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 184,000
18 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 89,300
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#6,477
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
127,662 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Monika sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 127,662 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Monika. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Monikas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Monika was born before 1986 — so the typical Monika is around 39 today.

Median birth year
1986
About 39 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
23.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
16.4%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
9,780
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 23.2% of all recorded uses (2,280).

Is Monika rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+1,806
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−2,241
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−3,056
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.38×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
7.0%
Peak was 1990 (257)
Years since peak
35
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#707
1978

Spellings of Monika

Monika is not the most common spelling — Monica is, with 46.4% against Monika's 1.8%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Monika is used

Across 1910–2025, Monika was most concentrated in Illinois — about 1 in 9,091 girls, against 1 in 21,631 across all states with data. It was least common in Utah (1 in —).

011 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Illinois1 in 9,091
  2. 2California1 in 11,111
  3. 3New Jersey1 in 14,286
  4. 4New York1 in 14,286
  5. 5Connecticut1 in 16,667
  6. 6Florida1 in 16,667
  7. 7Michigan1 in 16,667
  8. 8Texas1 in 16,667

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Monika has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Monika around the world

Where Monika ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #3,705
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2010–2020
    #765
    in 2020
  • Ireland
    2005–2022
    #905
    in 2022
  • France
    1926–2025
    #7,274
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2020
    #435
    in 2020
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #2,710
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1946–2011
    #514
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Monika

People whose public names include Monika, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Monika in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Monika. Linked forms have their own page here.

MonaMoonaMonicaMoniqueMoniekMonikoMònicaMónicaMoonika

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Monika by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#6,477
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 2,241
Best rank ever
#707
1978
Peak year
1990
257 that year
First recorded
1942
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
9,810
Count in 2025
18

Names similar to Monika

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

MonroeMontanaDanikaMonetMalikaAnnikaMonaeMonserratJessikaAnikaMoniqueMonnieMonaMikaMonicaTanikaMalaikaKanikaTamikaArikaIshikaMontserratAnvikaMontie

Names with a curve like Monika

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Monika, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

AleciaMariselaLissetteMarlenaLisetteAndriaDaynaMaricelaGriseldaCorinaRichelleStefani

Sibling names for Monika

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Monika

Top names of 1990, Monika's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1978Girls' names starting with MLithuanian Girl NamesUncommon Czech Girl NamesUncommon Polish Girl Names