ninan.org

Irene

Girls' name · Early 20th-century perennial

Living in the US
~103,400 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#651 among girls
Births in 2025
442 356,812 since 1880
Typical age
68 years, median

Irene popularity over time

Irene rank by birth year, 1880–2025Irene ranked #102 in 1880 and #651 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #16, in 1918.#100#651best #16 in 191818901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

More children were named Irene in 1921 than in any other year — 10,657 of them. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. Irene has spent 64 years inside the national top 100.

The 2025 position is #651, on 442 births. It slipped 16 places against the previous year.

Babies named Irene per yearPeaks at 10,657 births in 1921.10,657 in 1921018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Irene?

Roughly 103,400 Irenes are alive in the US right now. That is out of 356,812 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Irene?

Half of living Irenes are older than 68, half younger. The 1950s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Irene a early 20th-century perennial name.

Your Irene

Ages of living people named IreneHalf of living Irenes are older than 68 and half younger.median 68020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Irene is most common

Relative to births, California carries 2.0× the national share of Irenes. Minnesota, Washington and Oregon follow.

Where Irene is used more than average5 states use the name Irene more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: 1.7× the national rateWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: 1.8× the national rateMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: 1.3× the national rateNYOregon: 1.4× the national rateORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 2.0× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Irene is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
California 1,014 2.0×
Minnesota 118 1.8×
Washington 147 1.7×
Oregon 55 1.4×
New York 308 1.3×

Irene in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Irene ranked #997 in 2025 on 34 births. That is 31% higher than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Irene comes from

Borrowed from French Irène, from Ancient Greek Εἰρήνη (“peace”), name of a goddess of peace, of early Christian saints, and of an 8th-century Byzantine empress. Doublet of Eirini.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Irene

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Irene Dunne American actress and singer 1898–1990 52
Irene Cara American singer and actress 1959–2022 47
Irene Doukaina Empress consort of the Byzantine Empire 1066–1123 32
Irene Paredes Spanish footballer 1991 31
Irene Angelina Byzantine queen 1180–1208 30
Irene Schouten Dutch speed skater 1992 26
Irene Montero Spanish politician and psychologist 1988 26
Irene Khan Bangladeshi academic 1956 26
Photo credits (8)

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/irene.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).