UK girl's name
Mona
Of Arabic origin, meaning "wish" or "desire".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Mona is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Mona popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #3318, with 7 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2008, with 28 births.
This profile covers 413 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 25% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 418 living people in the UK are called Mona. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Mona ranked #3318 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 7 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2008, when 28 girls were registered as Mona.
- • Mona ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #765 in 2020.
- • About 418 living people in the UK are estimated to have Mona as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#3318
2024
Births in 2024
7
Latest year
Peak year
2008
28 births
Estimated living
418
2026
Meaning
What does Mona mean?
The name Mona is derived from the Arabic word "muna" which means "wish" or "desire". It is believed to have originated in the Middle East and North Africa region during the medieval period.
Mona is a feminine name that has been used across various cultures and religions. In Islamic tradition, it is said that one of the wives of the Prophet Muhammad was named Muna or Mona. This association has made the name popular among Muslims around the world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mona can be found in the famous work of Persian literature, the Shahnameh, written by the poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century. The name appears in the story of a legendary Iranian princess named Mona.
In European history, the name Mona gained popularity after the Renaissance period. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Mona Lisa, the subject of Leonardo da Vinci's iconic portrait, painted in the early 16th century.
Another notable figure with the name Mona was Mona van Duyn, an American poet and academic who was born in 1921 and passed away in 2004. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1971.
In the world of literature, Mona Caird was a prominent Scottish novelist and essayist born in 1854. She was known for her feminist writings and her advocacy for women's rights.
Mona Inglesby, born in 1918, was a Canadian-born American singer and actress who appeared in several films and TV shows during the 1940s and 1950s.
Mona Bates, born in 1914 and died in 1996, was an American artist known for her abstract expressionist paintings and her association with the New York School of artists.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Mona over time
The chart below shows babies named Mona registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Mona, the clearest high point is 2008. The latest England and Wales figure is 7 births in 2024, compared with 28 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mona by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Mona was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #2288 | 62 | 5 |
| 2010s | #2107 | 145 | 10 |
| 2000s | #1547 | 153 | 10 |
| 1990s | #1394 | 53 | 4 |
Geography
Where Mona is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Mona. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Mona ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #765 in 2020.
Across the UK
Mona in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#765 in 2020
2 years of NRS records, 7 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Mona
-
Mona Ch'ng
actor
Hong Kong actress
1987-
-
Mona Seif
human rights defender; geneticist; cancer researcher
Egyptian activist
1986-
-
Mona Yousefi
actor; film director
British actress
1980-
-
Mona Hanna-Attisha
pediatrician
American pediatrician who uncovered the Flint water crisis
1976-
-
Mona Arshi
poet
British poet
1970-
-
Mona Hatoum
sculptor; jewelry designer; film director; television producer; visual artist; performance artist; installation artist; video artist
Palestinian sculptor and installation artist (born 1952)
1952-
-
Mona Khalil
restorer; conservationist
Lebansese conservationist
1949-
-
Mona Mitchell
courtier
British courtier
1938-2002
Related
Names similar to Mona
- Megan 70,884
- Mia 67,204
- Molly 47,734
- Millie 44,390
- Maisie 32,671
- Matilda 29,965
- Maya 26,445
- Madison 18,441
- Maria 17,304
- Mollie 15,914
- Martha 15,116
- Maddison 14,918
FAQ
Mona: questions and answers
How popular is the name Mona in the UK right now?
In 2024, Mona was ranked #3318 for girls in England and Wales, with 7 births registered.
When was Mona most popular?
The peak year on record was 2008, with 28 babies registered as Mona in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Mona?
Of Arabic origin, meaning "wish" or "desire".
How many people are called Mona in the UK?
A total of 413 babies have been registered as Mona across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 7 more in Scotland.
Where is Mona most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Mona ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #765 in 2020. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.