Monica is a female given name with many variant forms, including Mónica (Italian, Spanish and Portuguese), Mônica (Brazilian Portuguese), Monique (French), Monika (German, Indian), Moonika (Estonia), and Mónika (Hungarian).

History

The etymology of ''Monica'' is unknown. Its earliest attestation known today is as the name of

Saint Monica Monica ( – 387) was an early North African Christian saint and the mother of Augustine of Hippo. She is remembered and honored in the Catholic and Orthodox Churches, albeit on different feast days, for her outstanding Christian virtues, parti ...

, mother of

Saint Augustine Augustine of Hippo ( , ; la, Aurelius Augustinus Hipponensis; 13 November 354 – 28 August 430), also known as Saint Augustine, was a theologian and philosopher of Berber origin and the bishop of Hippo Regius in Numidia, Roman North Afri ...

. St. Monica was born in

Numidia Numidia ( Berber: ''Inumiden''; 202–40 BC) was the ancient kingdom of the Numidians located in northwest Africa, initially comprising the territory that now makes up modern-day Algeria, but later expanding across what is today known as Tuni ...

in North Africa, but was also a citizen of

Carthage Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the clas ...

, hence the name may be of Punic or Berber origin. It has also been associated with the Greek word ''monos'', meaning "alone". Though etymologically unrelated, "Monica" was also a name in Latin, deriving from the verb ''monere'', meaning 'to advise.' One of the early occurrences of the name in modern literature is the character Monica Thorne in the 1858 novel '' Doctor Thorne'' by

Anthony Trollope Anthony Trollope (; 24 April 1815 – 6 December 1882) was an English novelist and civil servant of the Victorian era. Among his best-known works is a series of novels collectively known as the '' Chronicles of Barsetshire'', which revolves ...

Popularity

In the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...

, the name's popularity reached a peak in 1977, when it was the 39th most popular female name for new births. The popularity has gradually waned since then, being 76th most popular in 1990, and 363rd in 2010.Popular Baby Names
, United States

Social Security Administration The United States Social Security Administration (SSA) is an independent agency of the U.S. federal government that administers Social Security, a social insurance program consisting of retirement, disability and survivor benefits. To qualify fo ...

, search term: "Monica". Retrieved 21 July 2011.

Name day

In the European tradition of

name day In Christianity, a name day is a tradition in many countries of Europe and the Americas, among other parts of Christendom. It consists of celebrating a day of the year that is associated with one's baptismal name, which is normatively that of ...

celebration, the date for the name ''Monica'' or ''Monika'' varies from country to country. In

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...

it is 4 May, as it is in Sweden. In

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the ...

it is 7 May, and in the

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. Th ...

it is celebrated on 21 May. In Italy, Poland, Portugal and Spain it is celebrated on 27 August. In Latvia it is celebrated on 6 October and in Greece on 15 June.

Notable people

* Monica Aksamit (born 1990), American fencer * Monica Aldama, American cheerleading coach * Monica Ali (born 1967), British author * Monica Arnold (born 1980), American singer, professionally known as "Monica" * Monica Aspelund (born 1946), Finnish singer * Monica Bandini (1964–2021), Italian road racing cyclist *

Monica Bellucci Monica Anna Maria Bellucci (; born 30 September 1964) is an Italian actress and model. She began her career as a fashion model, modelling for Dolce & Gabbana and Dior, before making a transition to Italian films and later American and French ...

(born 1964), Italian actress * Monica Beltran (born 1985), American soldier * Monica Birwinyo (born 1990), Ugandan actress * Monica Brant (born 1970), American fitness/figure competitor and model *

Mónica Carrillo Mónica Carrillo Martínez (born 16 September 1976) is a Spanish journalist and writer who works for Antena 3 on its '' Antena 3 Noticias'' news bulletins. She has worked for Televisión Española on the 24 horas rolling news channel, co-found ...

(born 1976), Spanish journalist and novelist * Monica Cole (1922–1994), English geographer * Mónica Cruz (born 1977), Spanish actress * Monica Dickens (1915–1992), British author of books for adults and children * Monica Edwards (1912–1998), British children's author * Monica Evans (born 1940), British actress *

Mónica Falcioni Mónica Jacqueline Falcioni Costa (born October 10, 1968) is a retired long and triple jumper from Uruguay. Career Falcioni represented her native country at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia Sydney ( ) is the capital city o ...

(born 1968), Uruguayan long and triple jumper * Mónica Feria Tinta (born 1966), British/Peruvian barrister, public international law specialist * Monica Goodling (born 1973), former Director of Public Affairs for the U.S. Department of Justice * Monica Hickmann Alves (born 1987), Brazilian footballer * Monica De Gennaro (born 1987), Italian volleyball player * Monica Horan (born 1963), American actress * Monica of Hippo (322–387), Numidian saint, the mother of Saint Augustine * Monica Iozzi (born 1981), Brazilian actress and reporter * Monica Keena (born 1979), American actress * Mónica Kräuter (born 1967), Venezuelan chemist and professor *

Monica Lewinsky Monica Samille Lewinsky (born July 23, 1973) is an American activist and writer. President Bill Clinton admitted to having an affair with Lewinsky while she worked at the White House as an intern in 1995 and 1996. The affair, and its repercu ...

(born 1973), American White House intern and scandal celebrity * Monica Lierhaus (born 1970), German sports journalist and television host * Mónica López (politician), Argentine politician *

Monica Macovei Monica Luisa Macovei (; born 4 February 1959) is a Romanian politician, lawyer and former prosecutor, and former Member of the European Parliament from the European Conservatives and Reformists and formerly a member of the Romanian Democratic L ...

, Romanian politician *

Mónica Martínez Mónica Martínez Pascual (born 16 April 1975) is a Spanish journalist, model and television presenter. She began her television career presenting the ' youth programme at the age of 15, and has presented television programmes on the Antena 3, C ...

(born 1975), Spanish journalist, model and television presenter * Mónica Montañés (born 1966), Venezuelan screenwriter and journalist. *

Monica Murnan Monica Murnan (born May 25, 1966) is an American politician and early childhood advocate who served as a Democratic member of the Kansas House of Representatives. Murnan represented the 3rd district, covering the city of Pittsburg, Kansas, from ...

(born 1966), American politician * Monica Naisen (died 1626), Japanese Roman Catholic martyr beatified in 1867 *

Mónica Naranjo Mónica Naranjo Carrasco (born 23 May 1974) is a Spanish singer widely popular in Spain and Latin America and recognised as one of the most powerful voices of the Spanish and Latin American music scenes. She has performed with singers such as Luc ...

(born 1974), Spanish singer *

Monica von Neumann Monica Ann Neumann von Héthárs, also known as Baroness Monica von Neumann, (née Ford; June 15, 1964 – March 5, 2019), was an American socialite, philanthropist, and businesswoman. She worked as a fashion model and dancer before marrying Jo ...

, American socialite *

Monica Niculescu Monica Niculescu (born 25 September 1987) is a Romanian professional tennis player. She has been ranked by the Women's Tennis Association as high as 28 in singles and 11 in doubles. Niculescu has won several titles: three singles and ten double ...

(born 1987), Romanian tennis player * Mónica Pont (born 1969), Spanish long-distance runner *

Monica Potter Monica Gregg Potter (née Brokaw; born June 30, 1971) is an American actress. She is known for her starring roles in the films ''Con Air'' (1997), ''Patch Adams'' (1998), and '' Along Came a Spider'' (2001). She also appeared in the horror films ...

(born 1971), American actress *

Monica Raymund Monica Maria Raymund (born July 26, 1986) is an American actress, known for her roles as Maria "Ria" Torres in the Fox crime drama '' Lie to Me'' (2009–2011), Dana Lodge in the CBS legal drama ''The Good Wife'' (2011–2012), Gabriela Dawson ...

(born 1986), American actress * Mónica Regonesi (born 1961), Chilean long-distance runner *

Monica Rial Monica Jean Rial (born October 5, 1975) is an American voice actress and Dubbing (filmmaking), ADR script writer affiliated with Funimation and Seraphim Digital/Sentai Filmworks. She provides voices for English language versions of Japanese ani ...

, American voice actress and ADR director *

Mônica Rodrigues Mônica Rodrigues (born September 20, 1967 in Rio de Janeiro) is a retired Brazilian female volleyball player. She won the silver medal in the inaugural women's beach volleyball tournament at the 1996 Summer Olympics, partnering with Adriana Samu ...

(born 1967), Brazilian volleyball player * Monica Ruwanpathirana, Sri Lankan poet *

Monica Simpson Monica Simpson is a queer Black activist, artist, and executive director of SisterSong Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective, the United States' largest organization dedicated to reproductive justice for women of color. Biography Monica ...

, American reproductive rights activist *

Monica Seles Monica Seles (; hu, Széles Mónika, ; sr, Моника Селеш, Monika Seleš; born December 2, 1973) is a retired professional tennis player who represented Yugoslavia and the United States. A former world No. 1, she won nine Grand Sla ...

(born 1973), American-Serbian tennis player * Monica VanDieren, American mathematician * Mónica Vergara (born 1983), Mexican footballer *

Monica Vitti Monica Vitti (born Maria Luisa Ceciarelli; 3 November 1931 – 2 February 2022) was an Italian actress who starred in several award-winning films directed by Michelangelo Antonioni during the 1960s. After working with Antonioni, Vitti changed fo ...

(born 1931), Italian actress * Monica Yunus (born 1979), Bangladeshi-Russian-American opera singer *

Monica Zetterlund Monica Zetterlund (born Eva Monica Nilsson; 20 September 1937 – 12 May 2005) was a Swedish jazz singer and actress. Through her lifetime, she starred in over 10 Swedish film productions and recorded over 20 studio albums. She gained inte ...

(1937–2005), Swedish singer and actress

Fictional characters

Monica Geller Monica E. Geller is a fictional character, one of the six main characters who appears on the American sitcom '' Friends'' (1994–2004). Created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, and portrayed by actress Courteney Cox, Monica appears in all ...

in the TV series '' Friends'' * Monica Gallagher in the TV series ''Shameless'' (UK) and ''Shameless'' (US) * Monica Madden in

George Gissing George Robert Gissing (; 22 November 1857 – 28 December 1903) was an English novelist, who published 23 novels between 1880 and 1903. His best-known works have reappeared in modern editions. They include '' The Nether World'' (1889), '' New Gr ...

's 1893 novel '' The Odd Women'' *

Monica Quartermaine Monica Quartermaine is a fictional character from ''General Hospital'', an American soap opera on the ABC network, played continually since August 17, 1977 by longtime soap opera actress Leslie Charleson. She is a cardiologist at the eponymous ...

in the TV series '' General Hospital'' *

Monica Rambeau Monica Rambeau is a fictional superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Roger Stern and artist John Romita Jr., the character debuted in ''The Amazing Spider-Man Annual'' #16 (October 1982). Moni ...

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Comics'' in 19 ...

* Monica Reeves in the film '' Bad Hair Day'' * Monica Vandham in ''

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 ''Xenoblade Chronicles 3'' is a 2022 action role-playing game developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Switch. Released on July 29, it is the fourth installment of the open-world ''Xenoblade Chronicles'' franchise, ...

'' * Monica in the film ''

Baby Driver ''Baby Driver'' is a 2017 action film written and directed by Edgar Wright. It stars Ansel Elgort as a getaway driver seeking freedom from a life of crime with his girlfriend Debora ( Lily James). Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, ...

'' * Monika in '' Doki Doki Literature Club'' * Monica in the animated series ''

Oggy and the Cockroaches ''Oggy and the Cockroaches'' (french: Oggy et les Cafards) is a French comedy-adventure animated television series produced by Gaumont Multimedia (first two seasons) and Xilam Animation (third season onwards), and created by Jean-Yves Raimbaud ...

'' * Monica in ''

Monica's Gang ''Monica's Gang'' or ''Monica and Friends'' ( Portuguese: ''Turma da Mônica''; British English: ''Monica & Friends'') is a Brazilian comic book series and media franchise created by Mauricio de Sousa. The series originated in a newspaper com ...

'' * Monica, a crossing guard in ''

The Angry Birds Movie ''The Angry Birds Movie'' (also known simply as ''Angry Birds'') is a 2016 computer-animated comedy film based on Rovio Entertainment's video game series of the same name, produced by Columbia Pictures and Rovio Animation, and distributed by S ...

'' * Monica in the TV series ''

Touched by an Angel ''Touched by an Angel'' is an American fantasy drama television series that premiered on CBS on September 21, 1994, and ran for 211 episodes over nine seasons until its conclusion on April 27, 2003. Created by John Masius and executive produced ...

References