Ilona
A feminine name derived from the Greek word for moonlight.
Name Census estimates that about 2,321 living Americans carry the first name Ilona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ilona today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ilona births was 1946 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ilona. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ilona with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.3K
~ 1 in 147,675 Americans
Peak year
1946
102 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,928
Tracked since 1909
Census
Ilona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,883 people with the first name Ilona, which placed it at #3,516 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,516
National first-name rank
People counted
5.9K
5,883 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
90.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ilona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ilona is White at 90.2%. The next largest groups are Black (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ilona described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ilona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White90.2% · 5,309
- Black or African American3.1% · 181
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 172
- Two or more races1.9% · 110
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 95
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 16
Popularity
Ilona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ilona from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 738 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ilona by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Ilona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ilonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Ilona, while Florida, Massachusetts, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 92 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ilona
The name Ilona has its roots in the Greek language, originating from the word "Helene," meaning "bright" or "shining one." It is considered a variant of the more widely known name Helen, which was popular in ancient Greece. The name Ilona gained popularity in Eastern European countries like Hungary, Poland, and Russia during the Middle Ages.
In Hungarian mythology, Ilona was the name of a beautiful princess who was said to possess magical powers. This legend likely contributed to the name's widespread use in the region. The earliest recorded instances of the name Ilona can be found in Hungarian historical records dating back to the 13th century.
One of the most famous bearers of the name Ilona was Ilona Zrínyi (1643-1703), a Hungarian noblewoman and the wife of Imre Thököly, a Hungarian prince who led an uprising against the Habsburgs. Ilona Zrínyi played a significant role in supporting her husband's military campaigns and became a symbol of resistance against foreign rule.
Another notable figure was Ilona Massey (1910-1988), a Hungarian-American actress and singer who appeared in numerous Hollywood films during the 1930s and 1940s. She was known for her beauty and her distinctive alto singing voice, and she starred alongside famous actors like Nelson Eddy and Errol Flynn.
In the realm of literature, Ilona Karmel (1905-1939) was a Polish-Jewish writer and poet who gained recognition for her works that explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition. Her poetry collections, such as "Wiersze" (Poems), were widely acclaimed and translated into several languages.
Ilona Staller (born 1951), better known by her stage name Cicciolina, was an Italian porn star and politician who gained international notoriety in the 1980s and 1990s. She was elected to the Italian parliament in 1987 and became known for her outspoken views on sexual liberation and her unconventional political career.
Finally, Ilona Massingberd-Mundy (1918-2010) was a British writer and journalist who penned numerous books on the history and culture of South Asia, particularly India and Nepal. Her works, such as "Kullu: Himalayan Jewel Valley" and "The Kullu Peasant," provided valuable insights into the lives and traditions of the region.
People
Ilona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ilona as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ilona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ilona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,321 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ilona going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 147,675 US residents.
Is Ilona a common name?
We classify Ilona as "Rare". It ranks above 94.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,293 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ilona most popular?
The single biggest year for Ilona was 1946, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ilona is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ilona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,883 people with the name Ilona, or 1.95 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,516 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ilona in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ilona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ilona appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,882 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ilona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ilona is White at 90.2%. The next largest groups are Black (3.1%) and Hispanic (2.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ilona most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ilona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.2% (5,309 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ilona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ilona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ilona in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Ilona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ilona in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ilona can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people share the name Ilona?
Want to know how many Americans are named Ilona? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.