Ipek
A Turkish feminine name meaning "silk" or "delicate fabric".
Name Census estimates that about 72 living Americans carry the first name Ipek. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ipek today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ipek births was 2018 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ipek. 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 Ipek with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ipek. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
72
~ 1 in 4,760,477 Americans
Peak year
2018
10 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,463
Tracked since 2004
Census
Ipek in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 301 people with the first name Ipek, which placed it at #29,423 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
#29,423
National first-name rank
People counted
301
301 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
94.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ipek
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ipek is White at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Ipek 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 Ipek at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White94.7% · 285
- Two or more races3.7% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 3
- Black or African American0.3% · 1
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 1
Popularity
Ipek: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ipek from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 54 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ipek 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 Ipek during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ipek
The name Ipek originates from the Turkish language and dates back to the Ottoman Empire period. It is derived from the Turkish word "ipek," which means "silk." This suggests that the name may have been associated with the silk trade or silk production, which was a significant industry in the Ottoman Empire.
In Turkish culture, the name Ipek is a feminine name often given to girls. Its connection to silk symbolizes elegance, beauty, and delicacy. The name has been in use for several centuries and has been borne by notable figures throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Ipek can be found in the Ottoman court records from the 16th century. Ipek Hatun (c. 1530-1580) was a renowned Ottoman courtier and the wife of Grand Vizier Sokollu Mehmed Pasha, who served during the reign of Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent.
Another notable bearer of the name was Ipek Gökçen (1935-2012), a Turkish aviator and the first female fighter pilot in the Turkish Air Force. She made history by becoming the first Turkish female to earn a commercial pilot's license and fly a jet aircraft.
Ipek Sanaltan (1891-1972) was a Turkish author and journalist who played a significant role in the Turkish women's movement and the promotion of women's rights in the early 20th century.
In the field of art, Ipek Duben (1963-) is a prominent Turkish artist and academic known for her explorations of identity, memory, and cultural heritage through her installations and multimedia works.
Ipek Çalislar (1979-) is a contemporary Turkish novelist and screenwriter who has received critical acclaim for her works exploring themes of love, loss, and the complexities of modern relationships.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Ipek throughout history, reflecting its enduring presence and significance in Turkish culture and society.
People
Ipek + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ipek 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
Ipek: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ipek?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 72 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ipek 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 4,760,477 US residents.
Is Ipek a common name?
We classify Ipek as "Very Rare". It ranks above 59.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 73 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ipek most popular?
The single biggest year for Ipek was 2018, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ipek is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ipek in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 301 people with the name Ipek, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,423 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 Ipek 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 Ipek?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ipek appears almost entirely female. Of the 296 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 Ipek?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ipek is White at 94.7%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (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 Ipek most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ipek in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.7% (285 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 Ipek in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ipek a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ipek 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 Ipek still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ipek 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 Ipek 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 Ipek?
See how many people have the name Ipek on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.