Irish
Irish was given to 6 girls in 2025, #13,860 among girls’ names; 1,608 Americans have been recorded with it since 1924 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,360 Americans named Irish and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (84% of everyone recorded); the median is 48 years old and half are between 24 and 65.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Irish by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Irish mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Irish is “a female given name of chiefly Philippine usage.” Its etymology gives the senses “Irishmen” (Īras) and “Ireland” (Éire) and “fat land, fertile” (*Φīweriyū).
From Middle English Irish (12th c.), from Old English *Īrisċ, from Old English Īras (“Irishmen”), from Old Norse Írar, from Old Irish Ériu (modern Irish Éire (“Ireland”)), further origin heavily debated but probably from Proto-Celtic *Φīweriyū (“fat land, fertile”), from Proto-Indo-European *péyh₂wr̥ (“fat, swelling”), from *peyh₂- (“to swell; to be fat”), akin to Ancient Greek πῑ́ειρα (pī́eira, “fertile land”), Sanskrit पीव॑री (pī́varī, “fat”).
/ˈaɪɹɪʃ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Irish?
#13,860 among girls’ names, 2025
Irish fell from #12,268 in 2015 to #13,860 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 4.5 to 3.7 per million.
45 babies in 1960, the peak
Irish peaked in 1960, when 45 babies were given it (40 girls, #1,797 among girls’ names). The 6 births of 2025 are 13% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6 | #13,860 | 3.7 |
| 2023 | 9 | #10,652 | 5.6 |
| 2021 | 5 | #16,190 | 3.0 |
| 2020 | 16 | #7,035 | 9.9 |
| 2019 | 8 | #11,782 | 4.8 |
| 2018 | 7 | #12,990 | 4.1 |
| 2017 | 9 | #11,043 | 5.2 |
| 2016 | 10 | #10,386 | 5.6 |
| 2015 | 8 | #12,268 | 4.5 |
| 2014 | 13 | #8,655 | 7.3 |
Every recorded year (97)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per million girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2013 | 13 | #8,758 | 7.4 |
| 2012 | 14 | #8,377 | 7.9 |
| 2011 | 9 | #11,543 | 5.1 |
| 2010 | 10 | #10,720 | 5.6 |
| 2009 | 17 | #7,468 | 9.3 |
| 2008 | 10 | #11,098 | 5.3 |
| 2007 | 12 | #9,777 | 6.2 |
| 2006 | 17 | #7,269 | 8.9 |
| 2005 | 13 | #8,515 | 7.0 |
| 2004 | 15 | #7,554 | 8.2 |
| 2003 | 13 | #8,174 | 7.1 |
| 2002 | 12 | #8,479 | 6.7 |
| 2001 | 20 | #5,660 | 11.1 |
| 2000 | 17 | #6,295 | 9.4 |
| 1999 | 13 | #7,410 | 7.3 |
| 1998 | 16 | #6,167 | 9.1 |
| 1997 | 18 | #5,488 | 10.3 |
| 1996 | 12 | #7,298 | 6.8 |
| 1995 | 11 | #7,708 | 6.3 |
| 1994 | 8 | #9,895 | 4.5 |
| 1993 | 9 | #8,995 | 5.0 |
| 1992 | 13 | #6,793 | 7.1 |
| 1991 | 9 | #8,857 | 4.8 |
| 1990 | 12 | #7,028 | 6.3 |
| 1989 | 12 | #6,683 | 6.5 |
| 1988 | 15 | #5,418 | 8.4 |
| 1987 | 12 | #6,057 | 6.9 |
| 1986 | 10 | #6,778 | 5.8 |
| 1985 | 15 | #4,932 | 8.7 |
| 1984 | 17 | #4,392 | 10.1 |
| 1983 | 17 | #4,344 | 10.2 |
| 1982 | 19 | #4,071 | 11.2 |
| 1981 | 12 | #5,680 | 7.2 |
| 1980 | 26 | #3,250 | 15.7 |
| 1979 | 13 | #5,202 | 8.1 |
| 1978 | 15 | #4,517 | 9.8 |
| 1977 | 16 | #4,291 | 10.4 |
| 1976 | 13 | #4,716 | 8.9 |
| 1975 | 12 | #4,960 | 8.2 |
| 1974 | 11 | #5,131 | 7.5 |
| 1973 | 17 | #3,687 | 11.7 |
| 1972 | 17 | #3,615 | 11.2 |
| 1971 | 23 | #2,992 | 13.8 |
| 1970 | 26 | #2,734 | 14.9 |
| 1969 | 35 | #2,149 | 20.7 |
| 1968 | 23 | #2,658 | 14.0 |
| 1967 | 17 | #3,129 | 10.3 |
| 1966 | 24 | #2,476 | 14.2 |
| 1965 | 23 | #2,561 | 13.0 |
| 1964 | 22 | #2,703 | 11.6 |
| 1963 | 32 | #2,101 | 16.6 |
| 1962 | 30 | #2,183 | 15.3 |
| 1961 | 37 | #1,901 | 18.3 |
| 1960 | 40 | #1,797 | 19.8 |
| 1959 | 28 | #2,168 | 13.8 |
| 1958 | 31 | #2,001 | 15.4 |
| 1957 | 33 | #1,910 | 16.1 |
| 1956 | 19 | #2,660 | 9.5 |
| 1955 | 25 | #2,184 | 12.8 |
| 1954 | 19 | #2,546 | 9.8 |
| 1953 | 24 | #2,147 | 12.8 |
| 1952 | 19 | #2,444 | 10.2 |
| 1951 | 29 | #1,818 | 16.1 |
| 1950 | 16 | #2,599 | 9.3 |
| 1949 | 20 | #2,235 | 11.7 |
| 1948 | 16 | #2,537 | 9.4 |
| 1947 | 6 | #4,970 | 3.4 |
| 1946 | 9 | #3,515 | 5.7 |
| 1945 | 8 | #3,500 | 6.1 |
| 1944 | 9 | #3,229 | 6.8 |
| 1943 | 5 | #4,956 | 3.6 |
| 1942 | 6 | #4,323 | 4.4 |
| 1941 | 18 | #1,983 | 14.9 |
| 1940 | 12 | #2,480 | 10.5 |
| 1939 | 10 | #2,799 | 9.1 |
| 1938 | 8 | #3,296 | 7.2 |
| 1937 | 5 | #4,532 | 4.7 |
| 1935 | 6 | #3,959 | 5.7 |
| 1934 | 8 | #3,293 | 7.7 |
| 1933 | 5 | #4,500 | 5.0 |
| 1932 | 11 | #2,728 | 10.3 |
| 1931 | 6 | #4,086 | 5.6 |
| 1930 | 5 | #4,856 | 4.4 |
| 1929 | 8 | #3,518 | 7.2 |
| 1928 | 8 | #3,584 | 6.9 |
| 1926 | 9 | #3,386 | 7.6 |
| 1924 | 7 | #4,191 | 5.6 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Irish a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 1,608 Americans recorded as Irish, 90% are girls and 10% boys. In 2025 it went to 6 girls; SSA lists no boys with it that year (fewer than 5, or none).
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Irish: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Irish, and how old are they?
1,360 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 84% of the 1,608 Americans ever recorded as Irish. The median Irish alive today is 48 years old; half are between 24 and 65.
The 2020 Census counted 1,825 people named Irish (1,560 women and girls, 265 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,368 born in the U.S. The Census count is 33% 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 | 43 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 383 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 299 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 202 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 273 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 154 |
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).
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Irish
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 Irish and names like it
- Compare Irish and MariBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sIrish peaked in 1960.
- North Carolina’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Irish since 1910.
- The top names of 1960The year the most babies were named Irish.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Irish alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with IMost given first.