Ileana
The name of a fair maiden.
Name Census estimates that about 5,105 living Americans carry the first name Ileana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ileana today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ileana births was 1991 (141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ileana. 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 Ileana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.1K
~ 1 in 67,141 Americans
Peak year
1991
141 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,406
Tracked since 1918
Census
Ileana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,619 people with the first name Ileana, which placed it at #2,364 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
#2,364
National first-name rank
People counted
11K
10,619 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
87.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ileana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ileana is Hispanic at 87.4%. The next largest groups are White (10.2%) and Black (1.0%). 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 Ileana 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 Ileana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino87.4% · 9,280
- White10.2% · 1,079
- Black or African American1.0% · 105
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 78
- Two or more races0.6% · 68
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 9
Popularity
Ileana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ileana from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 1,232 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Ileana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ileana 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 Ileana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ileanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Ileana, while Virginia, Ohio, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 284 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ileana
The name Ileana has its origins in the Romanian language and culture. It is a feminine form of the name Ilie, which is derived from the Greek name Elias or Helios, meaning "sun". The name likely emerged during the Middle Ages in the region that is now modern-day Romania.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ileana can be found in the 15th century, when it was borne by Ileana Despina, a Princess of Wallachia and the daughter of Vlad III Dracula, known as Vlad the Impaler. She lived from around 1470 to 1508.
Another notable historical figure with this name was Ileana of Romania, a Princess of Romania and Archduchess of Austria-Este. She was born in 1909 and lived until 1991. Ileana was known for her philanthropic work and her devotion to the Orthodox Christian faith.
In the 20th century, Ileana Cosânzeana was a prominent Romanian actress and singer, known for her roles in numerous films and operettas. She was born in 1888 and died in 1965.
Ileana Cotrubaș, born in 1939, is a celebrated Romanian opera singer who has performed on some of the world's most prestigious stages, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York City.
Ileana Mălăncioiu, born in 1939, is a respected Romanian poet and essayist, known for her contributions to contemporary Romanian literature.
While the name Ileana has its roots in the Romanian language and culture, it has also been used in other parts of the world, particularly in areas with Romanian communities or influences. However, its historical significance and earliest recorded use can be traced back to the region that is now modern-day Romania.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Ileana
People
Ileana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ileana 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
Ileana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ileana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,105 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ileana 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 67,141 US residents.
Is Ileana a common name?
We classify Ileana as "Rare". It ranks above 96.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,565 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ileana most popular?
The single biggest year for Ileana was 1991, when 141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ileana is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ileana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,619 people with the name Ileana, or 3.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,364 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 Ileana 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 Ileana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ileana appears almost entirely female. Of the 10,619 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Ileana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ileana is Hispanic at 87.4%. The next largest groups are White (10.2%) and Black (1.0%). 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 Ileana most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ileana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.4% (9,280 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 Ileana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ileana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ileana 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 Ileana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ileana 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 Ileana 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 share the name Ileana?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.