Imagene
An invented feminine name suggesting imagination or fabrication.
Name Census estimates that about 81 living Americans carry the first name Imagene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Imagene today is around 85 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Imagene births was 1928 (32 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Imagene. 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 Imagene is about 85 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Imagenes were born before 1951.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Imagene. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
81
~ 1 in 4,231,535 Americans
Peak year
1928
32 babies that year
Average age
85
years old
1955 SSA rank
#5,456
Tracked since 1915
Census
Imagene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 173 people with the first name Imagene, which placed it at #41,949 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
#41,949
National first-name rank
People counted
173
173 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Imagene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Imagene is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Imagene 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 Imagene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.4% · 146
- Black or African American9.8% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 3
- Two or more races1.7% · 3
Popularity
Imagene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Imagene from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 213 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
Imagene 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 Imagene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Imagenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri recorded the most babies named Imagene, while Tennessee, Kentucky, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Imagene
The given name Imagene has its origins in the English language, likely emerging in the late 19th or early 20th century as a combination of the words "image" and "gene." This name was likely created as a unique, feminine name with a blend of meanings related to visual representation and heredity or birth.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Imagene dates back to the late 1800s, when an Imagene Smith was born in Ohio, United States in 1892. In the early 20th century, an Imagene Peyton from Virginia gained recognition as an author and journalist, publishing several works between the 1920s and 1940s.
Another notable figure named Imagene was Imagene Pryor (1907-1972), an American actress and singer who performed on Broadway and in several films during the 1930s and 1940s. She was particularly known for her roles in the musicals "Louisiana Purchase" and "Panama Hattie."
In the world of sports, Imagene Batton (1933-2017) was a successful American golfer who won several tournaments during her professional career in the 1950s and 1960s, including the Touring Professionals Championship in 1956.
Imagene Byler (1939-2021) was a notable philanthropist and advocate for education in the United States. She established the Byler Foundation, which provided scholarships and support for students pursuing higher education.
While the name Imagene may have been more prevalent in the early to mid-20th century, it has remained a relatively uncommon name throughout history. No major historical figures or references were found to be directly associated with this unique name prior to the late 19th century.
People
Imagene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Imagene 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
Imagene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Imagene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 81 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Imagene 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 4,231,535 US residents.
Is Imagene a common name?
We classify Imagene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 547 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Imagene most popular?
The single biggest year for Imagene was 1928, when 32 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Imagene is about 85 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Imagene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 173 people with the name Imagene, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,949 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 Imagene 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 Imagene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Imagene appears almost entirely female. Of the 171 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 Imagene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Imagene is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Black (9.8%) and Hispanic (2.3%). 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 Imagene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Imagene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (146 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 Imagene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Imagene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Imagene 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 Imagene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Imagene 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 Imagene 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 Americans are named Imagene?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.