Ingram
An English masculine name derived from an Old English surname meaning "homestead among the meadows."
Name Census estimates that about 243 living Americans carry the first name Ingram. It is a predominantly male name (97.0% of registrations). The average person named Ingram today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ingram births was 1917 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ingram. 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
243
~ 1 in 1,410,512 Americans
Peak year
1917
13 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,729
Tracked since 1883
Census
Ingram in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 451 people with the first name Ingram, which placed it at #22,181 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
#22,181
National first-name rank
People counted
451
451 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
42.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ingram
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ingram is White at 42.6%. The next largest groups are Black (41.5%) and Hispanic (7.3%). 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 Ingram 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 Ingram at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White42.6% · 192
- Black or African American41.5% · 187
- Hispanic or Latino7.3% · 33
- Two or more races4.2% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.2% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Ingram
Ingram leans heavily male at 97.0% of total registrations, but 13 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ingram as a male name
- Ranked #9,307 in 2024
- 8 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1917 (13 births)
Ingram as a female name
- Ranked #7,729 in 1971
- 6 female births in 1971
- Peak: 1963 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ingram on both sides of the split. Of the 453 people counted with this name, 347 were male (76.6%) and 106 were female (23.4%).
Popularity
Ingram: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ingram from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 82 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Ingram remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ingram 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 Ingram during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ingrams live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ingram
The given name Ingram has its roots in the Old English language and can be traced back to the 7th century. It is derived from the combination of the Old English words "Ing," meaning "hero" or "warrior," and "gram," meaning "gray-haired" or "venerable." Thus, the name Ingram could be interpreted as "venerable warrior" or "gray-haired hero."
The name was particularly popular among the Anglo-Saxon tribes that inhabited parts of what is now England and Germany. Its earliest recorded use can be found in the ancient Anglo-Saxon chronicles and genealogies, where it appears as a personal name for several notable figures from the era.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Ingram was Ingram of Bernicia, a 7th-century Anglo-Saxon prince and heir to the Kingdom of Bernicia (now part of northern England). He played a significant role in the unification of the Northumbrian kingdoms and is mentioned in the writings of the Venerable Bede, an English monk and historian from the 8th century.
In the 11th century, Ingram Byrneson was a prominent Norwegian chieftain and landowner who is mentioned in the Icelandic sagas. He was known for his bravery and leadership during the Viking Age.
During the Middle Ages, the name Ingram continued to be used across various regions of Europe. One notable figure was Ingram de Coucy, a 13th-century French nobleman and crusader who participated in the Fifth and Sixth Crusades. He was renowned for his military prowess and is mentioned in several contemporary chronicles.
In the 15th century, Ingram Frizer was a Scottish clergyman and scholar who served as the Bishop of Aberdeen from 1440 to 1459. He played a significant role in the intellectual and cultural life of medieval Scotland.
Another notable bearer of the name was Ingram Codrington, an English naval officer who lived from 1668 to 1728. He served as the Governor of the Leeward Islands and played a crucial role in the British colonization efforts in the Caribbean.
While the name Ingram has declined in popularity in recent times, it continues to be used across various cultures and regions, carrying with it a rich historical legacy and associations with bravery, nobility, and leadership.
People
Ingram + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ingram 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
Ingram: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ingram?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 243 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ingram 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 1,410,512 US residents.
Is Ingram a common name?
We classify Ingram as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 432 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ingram most popular?
The single biggest year for Ingram was 1917, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ingram is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ingram in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 451 people with the name Ingram, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,181 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 Ingram 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 Ingram?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ingram on both sides of the split. Of the 453 people counted with this name, 347 were male (76.6%) and 106 were female (23.4%). 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 Ingram?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ingram is White at 42.6%. The next largest groups are Black (41.5%) and Hispanic (7.3%). 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 Ingram most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ingram in the 2020 Census, accounting for 42.6% (192 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 Ingram in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ingram a male name?
Yes, 97.0% of people registered as Ingram 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.
Is Ingram still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ingram 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 Ingram 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 are named Ingram?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.