Ines
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "pure" or "holy".
Name Census estimates that about 4,396 living Americans carry the first name Ines. It is a predominantly female name (94.2% of registrations). The average person named Ines today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ines births was 2024 (180 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ines. 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 Ines with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
4.4K
~ 1 in 77,970 Americans
Peak year
2024
180 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2009 SSA rank
#1,282
Tracked since 1883
Census
Ines in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 15,283 people with the first name Ines, which placed it at #1,878 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
#1,878
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
15,283 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
79.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ines
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ines is Hispanic at 79.9%. The next largest groups are White (14.8%) and Black (2.7%). 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 Ines 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 Ines at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino79.9% · 12,215
- White14.8% · 2,259
- Black or African American2.7% · 411
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 269
- Two or more races0.7% · 104
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 25
Gender
Gender distribution for Ines
Ines leans heavily female at 94.2% of total registrations, but 399 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ines as a male name
- Ranked #11,523 in 2009
- 6 male births in 2009
- Peak: 1927 (16 births)
Ines as a female name
- Ranked #1,282 in 2024
- 180 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (180 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ines leans strongly female. 14,293 people counted with this name were female (93.5%), compared with 988 male bearers (6.5%).
Popularity
Ines: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ines from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 948 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ines remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ines 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 Ines during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ines' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Ines, while West Virginia, South Carolina, Kansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 159 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ines
The name Ines has its origins in the Greek language, derived from the Greek word "hagia," meaning "holy" or "sacred." This name gained popularity during the early Christian era, around the 4th century AD, when it was used as a name for female saints and religious figures.
The earliest recorded use of the name Ines can be traced back to the late Roman Empire, where it was used as a variant of the name Agnes, which also derives from the Greek word "hagia." The name was particularly popular in regions with strong Christian traditions, such as Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
One of the earliest and most notable historical references to the name Ines is found in the story of Saint Ines (also known as Agnes), a young Roman girl who was martyred for her Christian faith in the early 4th century AD. Her unwavering devotion and bravery in the face of persecution earned her a place as a revered figure in the Christian tradition.
The name Ines continued to be used throughout the Middle Ages, particularly in the Iberian Peninsula, where it was adopted as a common name among the Christian populations of Spain and Portugal. Notable historical figures with the name Ines include Ines de Castro (c. 1325-1355), a Galician noblewoman whose tragic love story with King Pedro I of Portugal has become a famous part of Portuguese literature and history.
Another notable figure is Ines de Suarez (c. 1507-1580), a Spanish conquistadora who accompanied her husband, Juan de Salazar, on expeditions to the Americas and played a significant role in the conquest of present-day Chile and Paraguay.
In the 16th century, the name Ines gained popularity in France, where it was often spelled as "Agnès." One of the most famous figures with this name is Agnès Sorel (c. 1422-1450), a celebrated beauty and the chief mistress of King Charles VII of France.
The name Ines also found its way into the literary world, with notable characters bearing the name appearing in works such as "The Tragedy of Ines de Castro" by Portuguese playwright João Baptista Gomes (1594-1643) and "The Idiot" by Russian novelist Fyodor Dostoevsky (1821-1881), where the character Ines Epanchin plays a significant role.
Throughout history, the name Ines has been associated with grace, purity, and strength of character, reflecting its origins as a name borne by Christian saints and martyrs.
People
Ines + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ines 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
Ines: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ines?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,396 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ines 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 77,970 US residents.
Is Ines a common name?
We classify Ines as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,934 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ines most popular?
The single biggest year for Ines was 2024, when 180 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ines is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ines in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 15,283 people with the name Ines, or 5.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,878 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 Ines 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 Ines?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ines leans strongly female. 14,293 people counted with this name were female (93.5%), compared with 988 male bearers (6.5%). 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 Ines?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ines is Hispanic at 79.9%. The next largest groups are White (14.8%) and Black (2.7%). 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 Ines most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ines in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.9% (12,215 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 Ines in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ines a female name?
Yes, 94.2% of people registered as Ines 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 Ines still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ines 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 Ines 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 Ines?
See how many Americans are named Ines on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.