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Monica (given name)

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

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History

The etymology of Monica is unknown. Its earliest attestation known today is as the name of Saint Monica, mother of Saint Augustine. St. Monica was born in Numidia in North Africa, but was also a citizen of Carthage, hence the name may be of Punic or Berber origin.[1] It has also been associated with the Greek word monos, meaning "alone".[2]

Though etymologically unrelated, "Monica" was also a name in Latin, deriving from the verb monere, meaning "to advise".[citation needed]

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.[2]

Popularity

In the United States, 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.[3]

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Name day

In the European tradition of name day celebration, the date for the name Monica or Monika varies from country to country:

In Finland the version with one "o" belongs to the name day calendar of Swedish-speaking population, for Finland is a bilingual country. Name written with double-o, i.e. "Moonika" (as it would be pronounced anyway), has an unofficial name day in the same day, but double-o version is less common.[4]

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Notable people

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Fictional characters

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See also

References

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