Irene
Irene was given to 442 girls in 2025, #651 among girls’ names; 356,812 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 95,800 Americans named Irene and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (27% of everyone recorded); the median is 67 years old and half are between 45 and 79.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Irene by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Irene mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Irene is “a female given name from Ancient Greek, in regular use since the 19th century.” Its etymology gives the sense “peace” (Εἰρήνη).
Borrowed from French Irène, from Ancient Greek Εἰρήνη (Eirḗnē, “peace”), name of a goddess of peace, of early Christian saints, and of an 8th-century Byzantine empress. Doublet of Eirini.
/aɪˈɹiːn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Irene?
#651 among girls’ names, 2025
Irene fell from #629 in 2015 to #651 in 2025 among girls’ names, although its share of girls born rose from 0.25 to 0.28 per 1,000.
10,657 babies in 1921, the peak
Irene peaked in 1921, when 10,657 babies were given it (10,624 girls, #18 among girls’ names). The 442 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 442 | #651 | 0.28 |
| 2024 | 465 | #635 | 0.29 |
| 2023 | 435 | #675 | 0.27 |
| 2022 | 448 | #661 | 0.27 |
| 2021 | 438 | #674 | 0.27 |
| 2020 | 472 | #620 | 0.29 |
| 2019 | 469 | #633 | 0.28 |
| 2018 | 466 | #639 | 0.27 |
| 2017 | 508 | #588 | 0.29 |
| 2016 | 444 | #659 | 0.25 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 453 | #629 | 0.25 |
| 2014 | 432 | #663 | 0.24 |
| 2013 | 439 | #644 | 0.25 |
| 2012 | 437 | #652 | 0.25 |
| 2011 | 406 | #692 | 0.23 |
| 2010 | 411 | #695 | 0.23 |
| 2009 | 484 | #625 | 0.26 |
| 2008 | 483 | #638 | 0.26 |
| 2007 | 468 | #636 | 0.24 |
| 2006 | 496 | #588 | 0.26 |
| 2005 | 491 | #580 | 0.27 |
| 2004 | 531 | #536 | 0.29 |
| 2003 | 475 | #581 | 0.26 |
| 2002 | 546 | #504 | 0.30 |
| 2001 | 573 | #487 | 0.32 |
| 2000 | 606 | #459 | 0.33 |
| 1999 | 555 | #474 | 0.31 |
| 1998 | 522 | #487 | 0.30 |
| 1997 | 595 | #431 | 0.34 |
| 1996 | 614 | #415 | 0.35 |
| 1995 | 610 | #426 | 0.35 |
| 1994 | 598 | #419 | 0.33 |
| 1993 | 546 | #458 | 0.30 |
| 1992 | 592 | #426 | 0.32 |
| 1991 | 651 | #392 | 0.35 |
| 1990 | 686 | #385 | 0.36 |
| 1989 | 637 | #390 | 0.35 |
| 1988 | 641 | #376 | 0.36 |
| 1987 | 654 | #362 | 0.38 |
| 1986 | 596 | #387 | 0.35 |
| 1985 | 669 | #352 | 0.39 |
| 1984 | 736 | #320 | 0.44 |
| 1983 | 749 | #307 | 0.45 |
| 1982 | 773 | #315 | 0.46 |
| 1981 | 799 | #304 | 0.48 |
| 1980 | 850 | #291 | 0.51 |
| 1979 | 798 | #298 | 0.50 |
| 1978 | 708 | #323 | 0.46 |
| 1977 | 760 | #313 | 0.50 |
| 1976 | 773 | #295 | 0.53 |
| 1975 | 723 | #315 | 0.50 |
| 1974 | 846 | #285 | 0.58 |
| 1973 | 847 | #287 | 0.58 |
| 1972 | 792 | #307 | 0.52 |
| 1971 | 970 | #290 | 0.58 |
| 1970 | 1,072 | #275 | 0.61 |
| 1969 | 1,108 | #262 | 0.66 |
| 1968 | 1,173 | #238 | 0.72 |
| 1967 | 1,196 | #240 | 0.72 |
| 1966 | 1,287 | #235 | 0.76 |
| 1965 | 1,556 | #211 | 0.88 |
| 1964 | 1,663 | #210 | 0.88 |
| 1963 | 1,761 | #201 | 0.91 |
| 1962 | 1,760 | #205 | 0.89 |
| 1961 | 1,912 | #193 | 0.95 |
| 1960 | 2,035 | #187 | 1.0 |
| 1959 | 2,098 | #179 | 1.0 |
| 1958 | 2,152 | #175 | 1.1 |
| 1957 | 2,260 | #169 | 1.1 |
| 1956 | 2,341 | #159 | 1.2 |
| 1955 | 2,433 | #147 | 1.2 |
| 1954 | 2,656 | #140 | 1.4 |
| 1953 | 2,800 | #127 | 1.5 |
| 1952 | 3,018 | #121 | 1.6 |
| 1951 | 3,395 | #105 | 1.9 |
| 1950 | 3,825 | #92 | 2.2 |
| 1949 | 2,955 | #111 | 1.7 |
| 1948 | 3,043 | #111 | 1.8 |
| 1947 | 3,293 | #107 | 1.9 |
| 1946 | 3,115 | #102 | 2.0 |
| 1945 | 2,883 | #97 | 2.2 |
| 1944 | 3,087 | #91 | 2.3 |
| 1943 | 3,299 | #85 | 2.4 |
| 1942 | 3,383 | #80 | 2.5 |
| 1941 | 3,370 | #74 | 2.8 |
| 1940 | 3,394 | #73 | 3.0 |
| 1939 | 3,331 | #74 | 3.0 |
| 1938 | 3,554 | #72 | 3.2 |
| 1937 | 3,674 | #62 | 3.5 |
| 1936 | 3,817 | #57 | 3.7 |
| 1935 | 3,940 | #52 | 3.8 |
| 1934 | 4,346 | #49 | 4.2 |
| 1933 | 4,506 | #46 | 4.5 |
| 1932 | 5,200 | #43 | 4.9 |
| 1931 | 5,616 | #37 | 5.3 |
| 1930 | 6,464 | #33 | 5.7 |
| 1929 | 7,039 | #29 | 6.3 |
| 1928 | 7,731 | #28 | 6.7 |
| 1927 | 8,606 | #21 | 7.2 |
| 1926 | 9,169 | #21 | 7.7 |
| 1925 | 9,440 | #19 | 7.8 |
| 1924 | 9,928 | #18 | 7.9 |
| 1923 | 10,054 | #17 | 8.3 |
| 1922 | 10,173 | #17 | 8.5 |
| 1921 | 10,624 | #18 | 8.6 |
| 1920 | 10,072 | #17 | 8.4 |
| 1919 | 9,712 | #16 | 8.6 |
| 1918 | 9,774 | #16 | 8.4 |
| 1917 | 9,163 | #17 | 8.5 |
| 1916 | 9,035 | #17 | 8.7 |
| 1915 | 8,323 | #17 | 8.5 |
| 1914 | 6,197 | #22 | 8.1 |
| 1913 | 5,335 | #21 | 8.5 |
| 1912 | 4,646 | #22 | 8.3 |
| 1911 | 3,502 | #21 | 8.4 |
| 1910 | 3,281 | #21 | 8.3 |
| 1909 | 2,961 | #20 | 8.5 |
| 1908 | 2,732 | #23 | 8.2 |
| 1907 | 2,617 | #22 | 8.2 |
| 1906 | 2,423 | #20 | 8.2 |
| 1905 | 2,357 | #24 | 8.1 |
| 1904 | 2,212 | #26 | 8.0 |
| 1903 | 2,001 | #28 | 7.6 |
| 1902 | 2,210 | #26 | 8.4 |
| 1901 | 1,879 | #30 | 7.9 |
| 1900 | 2,264 | #31 | 7.6 |
| 1899 | 1,703 | #34 | 7.3 |
| 1898 | 1,902 | #34 | 7.4 |
| 1897 | 1,587 | #38 | 6.8 |
| 1896 | 1,593 | #41 | 6.7 |
| 1895 | 1,428 | #43 | 6.1 |
| 1894 | 1,347 | #43 | 6.0 |
| 1893 | 1,111 | #51 | 5.2 |
| 1892 | 1,107 | #51 | 5.2 |
| 1891 | 950 | #52 | 5.1 |
| 1890 | 893 | #60 | 4.7 |
| 1889 | 737 | #63 | 4.1 |
| 1888 | 722 | #66 | 4.0 |
| 1887 | 504 | #73 | 3.5 |
| 1886 | 437 | #78 | 3.0 |
| 1885 | 376 | #82 | 2.8 |
| 1884 | 324 | #95 | 2.5 |
| 1883 | 260 | #100 | 2.3 |
| 1882 | 232 | #104 | 2.2 |
| 1881 | 206 | #102 | 2.2 |
| 1880 | 204 | #102 | 2.2 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Irene a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Irene has been given almost only to girls: 1,350 boys in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Irene: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Irene, and how old are they?
95,800 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 27% of the 356,812 Americans ever recorded as Irene. The median Irene alive today is 67 years old; half are between 45 and 79.
The 2020 Census counted 143,800 people named Irene (143,472 women and girls, 328 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 117,084 born in the U.S. The Census count is 23% above 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 | 19,500 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 36,900 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 14,300 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 10,300 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 7,990 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 5,880 |
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 Irene born?
The states with the most babies named Irene are New York, Pennsylvania and California, with 27% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 34,637 | #842 | 1.2× |
| Pennsylvania | 25,602 | #535 | 1.1× |
| California | 25,237 | #374 | 1.6× |
| Texas | 19,339 | #523 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 17,749 | #689 | 1.0× |
| Massachusetts | 13,869 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Michigan | 13,569 | #702 | 1.1× |
| Ohio | 13,002 | #913 | 0.8× |
| New Jersey | 11,392 | #685 | 1.2× |
| Wisconsin | 7,921 | #493 | 1.0× |
Where Irene is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Irene is most over-represented in Arizona: since 1910 it was given 1.7 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 Irene 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 363,227 babies since 1880, Irene is the most given (98% of them). In 2025 it was given to 442 of their 600 babies (74%), again the most given.
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 Irene
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
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 Irene and names like it
- Compare Irene and IrinaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sIrene peaked in 1921.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Irene since 1910.
- Ancient Greek namesWiktionary’s origin for Irene: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1921The year the most babies were named Irene.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Irene alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with IMost given first.