It is an English, Northern Ireland and Scottish surname. The is from a place in Calvados, France, named from Old French term mont which meant ‘hill’. A Germanic given name composed of the elements guma means ‘man’ and the term ric means ‘power.’

In Ireland the surname is written Mac Iomaire and in Scotland as Mac Gumaraid. spelling used is Montgomerie.

The origin for the Montgomery surname is Ireland with some in England and Scotland.
In England the surname is in a few scattered counties of Warwickshire, Buckinghamshire, Yorkshire, Lancashire, Essex and Midland. In Scotland the surname is in Lanarkshire county.

Within the United States the Montgomery families are in Ohio, Indiana, Kentucky, Missouri, New York, Pennsylvania, Texas, Alabama, California and Illinois.

In the 1880s the Montgomery families were mostly farmers.

Famous: Hugh E. Montgomery (and British physicist), Marjorie Montgomery (actress, dancer and fashion designer), Elizabeth Montgomery (actress), George Montgomery (professional basketball player), Alexander Montgomery (18thcentury politician leader in Ireland), Bernard Law Montgomery (Field Marshall - British Army officer and a major commander of the allied forces during World War Two), John Joseph Montgomery (American aviation pioneer in 1880s to 1911, inventor, professor and physicist), James Montgomery (19thcentury British editor, hymn writer and poet), Robert Montgomery (actor) and Richard Montgomery (18thcentury Irish-American major general during the American Revolutionary War).