MEANING & HISTORY
What does Monica mean?
Monica continues the Latin-recorded name of Saint Augustine’s mother. Its deeper origin is usually sought in North Africa, with Berber or Phoenician explanations proposed.
The familiar claims alone, adviser or one arise from associations with better-known Greek or Latin words and do not settle its origin. The historical woman and the transmitted Latin form provide a precise account while the ancient root remains unresolved.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Tagalog
- /ˈmonika/Standard-Tagalog
- [ˌmoː.n̪ɪˈx̠a]Standard-Tagalog
Mo · ni · ca3 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗English
- /ˈmɒn.ɪ.kə/Received-Pronunciation
- /ˈmɑ.nɪ.kə/General-American
- /ˈmo.nɪ.kɑ/South-Asia
Mo · ni · ca3 source divisions
Dictionary reading & contributors ↗Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
TagalogEtymology & source
Borrowed from Spanish Mónica.
a female given name from Spanish
Wiktionary: Monica (Tagalog) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
EnglishEtymology & source
From Latin Monica, name of the mother of St. Augustine, of uncertain meaning but probably Berber or Phoenician origin.
A female given name from Latin.
Wiktionary: Monica (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Monica
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Monica Sacay
Filipino singer
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Public-record transcription
1
eligible source records · 2001
This spelling is reported in an openly licensed transcription of elected-candidate records. This is a record count, not a birth count or national popularity measure.
OpenHalalan / COMELEC ↗Wikidata
2
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Monica Sacay, Monica Torres
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Monica in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Related forms & spellings
Related forms may have their own language histories. They are not included in this spelling’s PSA count.
Similar names to Monica
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Mónica♀Spanish and Portuguese form of Monica
- Monika♀Form of Monica used in several languages
- Danica♀Morning star
- Moira♀English form of Irish Máire
- Mona♀Irish noble-name form; also short for Monica
- Moning♀Familiar form of Mona or Ramona
- Jennica♀Blend of Jennifer and Jessica
- Monique♀French form of Monica
What rhymes with Monica?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Explore Monica further
Follow the sources
- OpenHalalan — pinned 2001 COMELEC transcription (opens in a new tab)
Source-reported given-name form in a row with a separate explicit middle initial; ODbL-1.0.
- COMELEC — 2001 List of Elected Candidates (opens in a new tab)
Original document identified by the transcription; selected PDF entries were spot-checked, not every imported row.
- Wikidata given-name item Q14013933 — Monica (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Monica Sacay (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q14013933 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Monica Torres (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q14013933 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Monica (Tagalog) (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name sense and separately attributed etymology; no birth-frequency claim.
- Wiktionary contributors — Monica (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Monica (opens in a new tab)
Name formation and linguistic history; consulted existing imported etymology.