 One of the early occurrences of the name in literature is the character Monica Thorne in the 1858 novel "Doctor Thorne" by Anthony Trollope.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.