Igor
A masculine name of Old Norse origin meaning "warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 758 living Americans carry the first name Igor. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Igor today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Igor births was 1998 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Igor. 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.
People living today
758
~ 1 in 452,183 Americans
Peak year
1998
30 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,939
Tracked since 1951
Popularity
Igor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Igor from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 234 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Igor 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 Igor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Igors live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Massachusetts, New York, California recorded the most babies named Igor, while Washington, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 13 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Igor
The name Igor has its origins in the Old Norse language and culture, dating back to the Viking era around the 8th to 11th centuries AD. It is derived from the Old Norse words "ingr" meaning "descendant of Ing" and "arr" meaning "warrior" or "army". The name was therefore associated with warriors and soldiers in ancient Norse society.
Igor is believed to have first appeared as a personal name among the Vikings and Norse settlers in Scandinavia and parts of modern-day Russia. Similar spellings include Ingvar, Yngvar, and Iggor. The name later spread to Eastern Europe, particularly in Ukraine and Russia, where it became more widely adopted.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Igor is found in the Primary Chronicle, an early East Slavic chronicle dating back to the 12th century. It mentions a semi-legendary prince named Igor of Kiev, who ruled the Kievan Rus' in the late 10th century.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Igor was Igor I, Grand Prince of Kiev, who reigned from 912 to 945 AD. He is remembered for his military campaigns against the Pechenegs and for consolidating the power of the Kievan Rus' state.
Another notable Igor was Igor Svyatoslavich, Prince of Novgorod-Seversky, who lived from around 1036 to 1078. He was a prominent military leader during the reign of his father, Svyatoslav II of Kiev, and played a role in the struggle for power among the Rurik dynasty princes.
In the 19th century, Igor Sikorsky, a Russian-American aviation pioneer, was born in 1889. He is best known for his innovative work in designing and building early helicopters, including the Sikorsky R-4, the first successful helicopter.
Igor Stravinsky, the renowned Russian composer, was born in 1882 and is considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. His works, such as "The Rite of Spring" and "The Firebird," revolutionized classical music and had a lasting impact on the development of modern music.
Igor Gouzenko, a Soviet cipher clerk, defected to Canada in 1945, exposing a Soviet spy ring operating in North America. His actions played a significant role in heightening tensions during the early stages of the Cold War and raising awareness of Soviet espionage activities.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Igor
People
Igor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Igor 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
Igor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Igor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 758 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Igor 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 452,183 US residents.
Is Igor a common name?
We classify Igor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 791 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Igor most popular?
The single biggest year for Igor was 1998, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Igor is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Igor a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Igor in the SSA data are male. 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.
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.