How rare is the name Irene?

143,800 people in the United States have the first name Irene, about 1 in 2,100. It ranks #394 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

IRENE

#394

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
143,800
About
1 in 2,100
This common or more
54%
Who bears it

Of the 143,800 people named Irene, 51.4% reported their origin as White, 30.2% as Hispanic or Latino and 8.3% as Asian or Pacific Islander. Virtually all are female (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Irene peaked in 1921, when 10,657 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1921
Births that year
10,657
In 2025*
442 ▼96%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 356,812 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Irene by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1910s, when it ranked #34. The largest share of babies named Irene, 47.4%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#1214,007
1890s#6113,672
1900s#3523,752
1910s#3469,162
1920s#4193,192
1930s#9444,698
1940s#19531,968
1950s#26627,080
1960s#39415,499
1970s#5518,325
1980s#6457,159
1990s#8315,975
2000s#1,0615,153
2010s#1,2404,465
2020s#1,2662,705
Before 19015.6%
Greatest Generation 1901–2747.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4522.2%
Baby boom 1946–6413.7%
Generation X 1965–804.3%
Millennials 1981–963%
Generation Z 1997–122.3%
2013 and later1.7%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Irene is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Irene has been most common in North Dakota (2.7×), New Hampshire (2.2×), and Rhode Island (2.1×), and least common in Nevada (0.22×).

310,992 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Irene

#392 Tim · 143,982#393 Madeline · 143,899#395 Chelsea · 143,411#396 Eugene · 143,351

Spelled almost the same

5 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Irene, most common first.

#3,435 Irena · 6,054#16,074 Iren · 707#19,044 Irine · 561#19,341 Ireneo · 548#44,078 Irenea · 158

Also a last name

As a last name, Irene ranks #42,002 of 156,621, with 557 people. See Irene as a last name

Compare