Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Monroe

Monroe is the transferred use of a Scottish surname into a female personal name.  The origin is both ancient and locational; the first clansmen were said to have come to Scotland from Ireland. The Gaelic form of the name means “from the mouth of Roe” in reference to the River Roe in County Derry, Ireland (where the original name bearers lived before relocating to Scotland). Monroe is the modern anglicized form of this ancient clan name. The River Roe in Ireland was probably named by Scandinavian settlers from the Irish-Gaelic “rua” meaning “red” – likely in reference to the high level of iron found in some places along the river.   Famous bearers of this surname are James Monroe (1758-1831), the 5th U.S. President, and the iconic actress Marilyn Monroe (1926-1962).

All About the Baby Name – Monroe

Personality

OF THE GIRL NAME MONROE

The number Eight personality has everything to do with power, wealth and abundance. Somehow, this personality has been blessed on the material plane, but their authoritative and problem-solving traits provide evidence that their good fortunes are not just the luck of the lottery. They are well earned. This is the personality of CEOs and high-ranking military personnel. Eights are intensely active, hard-driving individuals. Success is only meaningful to them after a job well-done.  They are remarkable in their ability to see the larger picture right down to the smallest details, and organize a strategy around success. They then have the ability to direct a group around them toward any goal, and realize individual potential to get the most out of their team.

Popularity

OF THE GIRL NAME MONROE

Monroe was the name chosen by Mariah Carey and Nick Cannon for their baby daughter in 2011 (the baby’s twin brother was named Moroccan; together they have been referred to as “Roc and Roe” as in rock and roll). This event is what prompted sudden interest in the surname Monroe for baby girls, although it is still rarely used. As far as potential surnames-as-first-names go, this one has charm in our opinion.  It’s especially attractive for über-fans of Marilyn Monroe and, despite the fact that she’s been dead for over 50 years, she still retains quite a following. 

Quick Facts

ON MONROE

GENDER:

Girl

ORIGIN:

Scottish

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

2

RANKING POPULARITY:

763

PRONUNCIATION:

mən-RO

SIMPLE MEANING:

From the River Roe

Characteristics

OF MONROE

Authoritative

Powerful

Tough

Tenacious

Wealthy

Problem-solver

Achiever

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Monroe

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME MONROE

Ada Monroe is the heroine of Charles Frazier’s first novel, Cold Mountain, published in 1997, and made into a major motion picture in 2003, starring Nicole Kidman and Jude Law. Ada is a preacher’s daughter, newly transported to a rural farm in North Carolina, and the love of W. P. Inman, a wounded, Confederate deserter, who makes his way back to her in an Odysseyan voyage. City bred, highly educated and orphaned by her father’s death, Ada is hit hard by the harshness and deprivation of war. A wandering, illiterate young woman, Ruby, comes to her rescue, and teaches her how to work and save the farm. Waiting patiently and hopefully for Inman’s return, Ada grows and matures in immeasurable ways during this extraordinary schism in American life, and finds herself able to rise to whatever occasion Fate has in store for her. And it is not a pretty one. At novel’s end, we are left with a most elevated admiration for this genteel, yet steely, young woman.

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME MONROE

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Monroe


Popular Songs

ON MONROE

Life Sized Marilyn Monroe
a song by Wild Strawberries

Famous People

NAMED MONROE

We cannot find any famous people with the first name Monroe.

Children of Famous People

NAMED MONROE

Mariah Carey; Nick Cannon;

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME MONROE

As everyone on Planet Earth knows, Marilyn Monroe was born Norma Jeane Mortenson (immediately changed to Baker) to a mentally unstable mother and an absent father, had a chaotic upbringing in a series of foster homes, achieved iconic stardom via an early modeling career, married three times (including Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller), suffered miscarriages, was rumored to have had liaisons with the Kennedy brothers (for once Ted is innocent), was insecure, longed to be taken seriously, committed herself to a psychiatric hospital, became dangerously dependent on drugs and died of a fatal overdose, which was ultimately ruled a “probable suicide”. All in 36 years! What no one on aforementioned planet knows is the mystery of just how this woman managed to come into our consciousness, blaze for a magic moment, and just as suddenly leave. In the fifty years since her death, she has achieved the kind of celebrity that is almost immeasurable; her face is instantly and universally recognized, frozen as it is in an indelible image of almost innocent sexiness and childlike vulnerability. Our culture has forever imprinted on its collective mind that sassy, joyful picture of a beautiful, laughing Marilyn standing over a city grate while the steam blows her dress up. How, then, could we reconcile that Marilyn with a woman in her mid-eighties? Impossible. So perhaps that is why she left us so soon – rather like JFK, she is so fixed in the national psyche that we must keep her in that time capsule. Nonetheless, if there is an afterlife, and we sincerely hope there is, the first question we’re going to ask is: “What really happened to Marilyn Monroe?”