Ilona
Ilona was given to 38 girls in 2025, #3,860 among girls’ names; 3,332 Americans have been recorded with it since 1909 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,530 Americans named Ilona and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (76% of everyone recorded); the median is 55 years old and half are between 24 and 73.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Ilona by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Ilona mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Ilona is “a female given name from Ancient Greek.”
From Hungarian Ilona. A rare variant of Helen or Helena.
/ɪˈləʊnə/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Ilona?
#3,860 among girls’ names, 2025
Ilona rose from #4,098 in 2015 to #3,860 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 20.2 to 23.6 per million.
102 babies in 1946, the peak
Ilona peaked in 1946, when 102 girls were given it, #820 among girls’ names. The 38 births of 2025 are 37% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 38 | #3,860 | 23.6 |
| 2024 | 28 | #4,812 | 17.3 |
| 2023 | 17 | #6,764 | 10.6 |
| 2022 | 22 | #5,701 | 13.4 |
| 2021 | 19 | #6,258 | 11.6 |
| 2020 | 24 | #5,218 | 14.8 |
| 2019 | 30 | #4,584 | 17.9 |
| 2018 | 29 | #4,700 | 17.0 |
| 2017 | 28 | #4,853 | 16.2 |
| 2016 | 35 | #4,191 | 19.8 |
Every recorded year (116)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 36 | #4,098 | 20.2 |
| 2014 | 19 | #6,549 | 10.6 |
| 2013 | 22 | #5,893 | 12.5 |
| 2012 | 26 | #5,305 | 14.8 |
| 2011 | 24 | #5,622 | 13.6 |
| 2010 | 27 | #5,158 | 15.2 |
| 2009 | 22 | #6,181 | 12.0 |
| 2008 | 32 | #4,689 | 16.9 |
| 2007 | 33 | #4,503 | 17.2 |
| 2006 | 26 | #5,290 | 13.7 |
| 2005 | 37 | #3,899 | 20.0 |
| 2004 | 34 | #4,121 | 18.5 |
| 2003 | 23 | #5,292 | 12.6 |
| 2002 | 27 | #4,541 | 15.0 |
| 2001 | 21 | #5,428 | 11.7 |
| 2000 | 27 | #4,448 | 14.9 |
| 1999 | 25 | #4,491 | 14.1 |
| 1998 | 20 | #5,213 | 11.3 |
| 1997 | 24 | #4,425 | 13.8 |
| 1996 | 18 | #5,364 | 10.3 |
| 1995 | 22 | #4,571 | 12.5 |
| 1994 | 16 | #5,810 | 9.0 |
| 1993 | 20 | #4,876 | 11.1 |
| 1992 | 20 | #4,915 | 10.8 |
| 1991 | 15 | #6,047 | 8.0 |
| 1990 | 29 | #3,650 | 15.3 |
| 1989 | 9 | #8,283 | 4.9 |
| 1988 | 12 | #6,405 | 6.7 |
| 1987 | 14 | #5,398 | 8.1 |
| 1986 | 16 | #4,805 | 9.3 |
| 1985 | 16 | #4,708 | 9.3 |
| 1984 | 25 | #3,357 | 14.8 |
| 1983 | 16 | #4,541 | 9.6 |
| 1982 | 21 | #3,817 | 12.4 |
| 1981 | 22 | #3,657 | 13.2 |
| 1980 | 23 | #3,543 | 13.9 |
| 1979 | 22 | #3,579 | 13.7 |
| 1978 | 22 | #3,423 | 14.4 |
| 1977 | 17 | #4,118 | 11.1 |
| 1976 | 21 | #3,324 | 14.3 |
| 1975 | 28 | #2,701 | 19.2 |
| 1974 | 26 | #2,785 | 17.7 |
| 1973 | 32 | #2,370 | 21.9 |
| 1972 | 22 | #2,996 | 14.5 |
| 1971 | 29 | #2,558 | 17.4 |
| 1970 | 40 | #2,058 | 22.9 |
| 1969 | 32 | #2,273 | 19.0 |
| 1968 | 29 | #2,267 | 17.7 |
| 1967 | 43 | #1,766 | 26.0 |
| 1966 | 30 | #2,161 | 17.7 |
| 1965 | 34 | #2,010 | 19.3 |
| 1964 | 38 | #1,927 | 20.1 |
| 1963 | 50 | #1,604 | 25.9 |
| 1962 | 32 | #2,092 | 16.3 |
| 1961 | 51 | #1,583 | 25.3 |
| 1960 | 35 | #1,936 | 17.3 |
| 1959 | 40 | #1,743 | 19.8 |
| 1958 | 45 | #1,593 | 22.4 |
| 1957 | 53 | #1,464 | 25.9 |
| 1956 | 53 | #1,459 | 26.4 |
| 1955 | 43 | #1,559 | 22.0 |
| 1954 | 59 | #1,289 | 30.4 |
| 1953 | 63 | #1,218 | 33.5 |
| 1952 | 75 | #1,091 | 40.4 |
| 1951 | 68 | #1,135 | 37.8 |
| 1950 | 72 | #1,085 | 42.0 |
| 1949 | 73 | #1,051 | 42.7 |
| 1948 | 56 | #1,211 | 33.0 |
| 1947 | 101 | #874 | 57.0 |
| 1946 | 102 | #820 | 64.9 |
| 1945 | 56 | #1,041 | 42.8 |
| 1944 | 52 | #1,080 | 39.2 |
| 1943 | 83 | #858 | 59.5 |
| 1942 | 82 | #848 | 60.7 |
| 1941 | 58 | #965 | 48.0 |
| 1940 | 75 | #824 | 65.6 |
| 1939 | 29 | #1,386 | 26.4 |
| 1938 | 19 | #1,831 | 17.2 |
| 1937 | 12 | #2,497 | 11.3 |
| 1936 | 6 | #3,898 | 5.8 |
| 1935 | 8 | #3,280 | 7.6 |
| 1934 | 5 | #4,577 | 4.8 |
| 1933 | 5 | #4,493 | 5.0 |
| 1932 | 7 | #3,729 | 6.6 |
| 1931 | 11 | #2,652 | 10.3 |
| 1930 | 11 | #2,759 | 9.8 |
| 1929 | 10 | #3,023 | 9.0 |
| 1928 | 10 | #3,032 | 8.7 |
| 1927 | 19 | #2,063 | 15.9 |
| 1926 | 10 | #3,150 | 8.4 |
| 1925 | 8 | #3,840 | 6.6 |
| 1924 | 7 | #4,182 | 5.6 |
| 1923 | 9 | #3,483 | 7.5 |
| 1922 | 15 | #2,425 | 12.5 |
| 1921 | 10 | #3,255 | 8.1 |
| 1920 | 8 | #3,766 | 6.7 |
| 1919 | 8 | #3,616 | 7.1 |
| 1917 | 16 | #2,142 | 14.8 |
| 1916 | 11 | #2,731 | 10.5 |
| 1915 | 9 | #2,993 | 9.1 |
| 1914 | 8 | #2,746 | 10.5 |
| 1913 | 6 | #2,995 | 9.6 |
| 1912 | 8 | #2,238 | 14.3 |
| 1911 | 5 | #2,649 | 12.0 |
| 1910 | 6 | #2,268 | 15.1 |
| 1909 | 5 | #2,362 | 14.4 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Ilona a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Ilona has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 116 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Ilona: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Ilona, and how old are they?
2,530 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 76% of the 3,332 Americans ever recorded as Ilona. The median Ilona alive today is 55 years old; half are between 24 and 73.
The 2020 Census counted 5,882 people named Ilona (5,876 women and girls, 6 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 2,587 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2.3 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 232 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 834 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 416 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 283 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 423 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 345 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Ilona born?
The states with the most babies named Ilona are New York, California and Pennsylvania, with 67% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 359 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| California | 246 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Pennsylvania | 130 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| New Jersey | 108 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 97 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Illinois | 75 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Michigan | 34 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Minnesota | 17 | not ranked | 0.2× |
| Connecticut | 16 | not ranked | 0.4× |
| Washington | 11 | not ranked | 0.2× |
Where Ilona is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Ilona is most over-represented in New York: since 1910 it was given 1.4 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Ilona with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 48,710 babies since 1880, Ilona is the fifth most given (6.8% of them). In 2025 it was given to 38 of their 756 babies (5.0%), the sixth most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Ilona
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1900-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Carolynn | 6,453 | |
| Carolin | 1,255 | |
| Ruthanne | 2,685 | |
| Charolette | 3,536 | |
| Karolyn | 5,957 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Ilona and names like it
- Compare Ilona and IleneBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1940sIlona peaked in 1946.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Ilona since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Ilona: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1946The year the most babies were named Ilona.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Ilona alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with IMost given first.