Irine
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "peace".
Name Census estimates that about 207 living Americans carry the first name Irine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Irine today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Irine births was 1922 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Irine. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Irine is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Irines were born before 1957.
People living today
207
~ 1 in 1,655,818 Americans
Peak year
1922
66 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1978 SSA rank
#10,332
Tracked since 1895
Census
Irine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 570 people with the first name Irine, which placed it at #18,805 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
#18,805
National first-name rank
People counted
570
570 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
41.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Irine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Irine is White at 41.9%. The next largest groups are Black (20.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.2%). 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 Irine 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 Irine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White41.9% · 239
- Black or African American20.7% · 118
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.2% · 104
- Hispanic or Latino17.0% · 97
- Two or more races1.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 5
Popularity
Irine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Irine from the 1890s through to the 1970s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 477 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
Irine 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 Irine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Irines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Mississippi, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Irine, while Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 41 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Irine
The name Irine has its origins in the ancient Greek language and culture. It is derived from the Greek word "eirene," which means "peace." This name was popular in ancient Greece, particularly during the classical period between the 5th and 4th centuries BC.
Irine was the Greek goddess of peace, and her name was often invoked in religious ceremonies and rituals aimed at promoting harmony and tranquility. The name also appears in several ancient Greek texts, including works by the renowned philosophers Plato and Aristotle.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Irine was Irine of Tlos, a Greek noblewoman who lived in the 4th century BC. She was famous for her advocacy of women's rights and her efforts to promote education among women in ancient Greece.
Another notable figure was Irine of Athens, a renowned scholar and philosopher who lived in the 3rd century BC. She was a student of the famous philosopher Epicurus and is credited with making significant contributions to the development of Epicurean philosophy.
In the Byzantine Empire, the name Irine gained popularity among the imperial family. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Irine the Athenian, who was the wife of the Byzantine Emperor Leo IV and served as regent for her son, Constantine VI, from 780 to 790 AD.
During the Middle Ages, the name Irine was also popular among Christians, particularly in Eastern Europe and the Balkan region. Saint Irine, a Christian martyr from the 4th century AD, was venerated in the Orthodox Church and is remembered for her unwavering faith and courage in the face of persecution.
In more recent history, Irine Haviland (1886-1975) was a notable American actress and singer who appeared in several Broadway productions and Hollywood films during the early 20th century.
These examples illustrate the rich history and cultural significance of the name Irine, which has been associated with concepts of peace, harmony, and intellectual pursuits throughout the ages.
People
Irine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Irine 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
Irine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Irine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 207 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Irine 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 1,655,818 US residents.
Is Irine a common name?
We classify Irine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,527 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Irine most popular?
The single biggest year for Irine was 1922, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Irine is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Irine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 570 people with the name Irine, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,805 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 Irine 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 Irine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Irine appears almost entirely female. Of the 561 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Irine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Irine is White at 41.9%. The next largest groups are Black (20.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.2%). 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 Irine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Irine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.9% (239 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 Irine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Irine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Irine 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 Irine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Irine 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 Irine 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 are called Irine?
You can see how many people share the name Irine on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.