Iona
Of Scottish/Gaelic origin meaning "from the island".
Name Census estimates that about 2,989 living Americans carry the first name Iona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Iona today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Iona births was 1918 (404 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Iona. 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 Iona with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.0K
~ 1 in 114,672 Americans
Peak year
1918
404 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,777
Tracked since 1880
Census
Iona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,829 people with the first name Iona, which placed it at #4,748 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
#4,748
National first-name rank
People counted
3.8K
3,829 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Iona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iona is White at 61.5%. The next largest groups are Black (24.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Iona 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 Iona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.5% · 2,356
- Black or African American24.2% · 926
- Two or more races5.5% · 210
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 159
- Hispanic or Latino3.4% · 129
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 49
Gender
Gender distribution for Iona
Out of the 12,196 babies given the name Iona since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Iona as a male name
- Ranked #12,974 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2008 (5 births)
Iona as a female name
- Ranked #2,777 in 2024
- 61 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (404 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Iona leans strongly female. 3,783 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 50 male bearers (1.3%).
Popularity
Iona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Iona from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 3,151 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Iona 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 Iona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ionas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Iona, while Wyoming, Oregon, Montana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 165 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Iona
The name Iona has its origins in the Greek language and is derived from the name of the Ionian Sea, which separates Greece from the southern part of Italy. The name is believed to have been inspired by the Greek word "ion," meaning "violet flower." This connection suggests that the name may have been associated with beauty and nature from its earliest origins.
Iona is also the name of a small island off the west coast of Scotland, which has been an important religious and cultural center since the 6th century. St. Columba, an Irish monk, founded a monastery on the island in 563 AD, and it became a renowned center of learning and religious study throughout the Middle Ages. The island's name is thought to derive from the Gaelic word "Ì Chaluim Chille," meaning "the island of Columba's church."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Iona is in the medieval Latin text "Vita Columbae" (Life of Columba), written around 700 AD by Adomnán, the ninth abbot of Iona. This text recounts the life and miracles of St. Columba, and the name Iona is used to refer to the island where his monastery was located.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Iona. One of the earliest was Iona of Taunton (c. 1200-1268), an English nun and abbess of the Benedictine monastery of St. Mary's in Taunton, Somerset. Another was Iona Bain (1858-1953), a Scottish artist and illustrator known for her watercolor paintings and etchings.
In more recent times, Iona Brown (1941-2004) was a British violinist and conductor who founded the Iona Brown Ensemble and made numerous recordings of baroque and classical music. Iona Opie (1923-2017) was a British writer and scholar who, along with her husband Peter, wrote extensively on the folklore and games of children.
Iona Monahan (born 1925) is a Canadian actress and singer who has appeared in numerous films, television shows, and stage productions throughout her long career. Her performances in productions like "Anne of Green Gables" and "The Friendly Giant" have made her a beloved figure in Canadian entertainment.
Overall, the name Iona has a rich history spanning various cultures and time periods, with connections to religious and literary traditions, as well as artistic and creative pursuits. Its origins in Greek and Gaelic language and mythology have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name for centuries.
People
Iona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Iona 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
Iona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,989 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Iona 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 114,672 US residents.
Is Iona a common name?
We classify Iona as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,196 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Iona most popular?
The single biggest year for Iona was 1918, when 404 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Iona 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 Iona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,829 people with the name Iona, or 1.27 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,748 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 Iona 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 Iona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Iona leans strongly female. 3,783 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 50 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Iona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iona is White at 61.5%. The next largest groups are Black (24.2%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Iona most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Iona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.5% (2,356 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 Iona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Iona a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Iona 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 Iona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Iona 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 Iona 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 have Iona as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Iona on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.