Irena
A feminine name of Slavic origin meaning "peaceful" or "calm".
Name Census estimates that about 1,373 living Americans carry the first name Irena. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Irena today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Irena births was 2024 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Irena. 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 Irena with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 249,639 Americans
Peak year
2024
34 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,226
Tracked since 1880
Census
Irena in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,056 people with the first name Irena, which placed it at #3,433 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
#3,433
National first-name rank
People counted
6.1K
6,056 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Irena
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Irena is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Irena 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 Irena at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.5% · 5,299
- Hispanic or Latino4.2% · 253
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 206
- Black or African American3.3% · 198
- Two or more races1.3% · 76
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 24
Popularity
Irena: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Irena 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 276 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Irena remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Irena 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 Irena during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Irenas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Maryland recorded the most babies named Irena, while New Jersey, Maryland, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 40 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Irena
The given name Irena has its origins in the Greek language and is derived from the word "eirene," which means peace. It is believed to have first appeared in use around the 5th century BC, during the Classical period of Ancient Greece.
Irena was a popular name among the ancient Greeks, who valued the concept of peace and harmony. The name was sometimes associated with the Greek goddess of peace, Eirene, who was depicted as a beautiful young woman carrying a cornucopia and an olive branch, symbolizing prosperity and peace.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Irena can be found in Aristophanes' ancient Greek comedy "Peace," written in 421 BC. In this play, the character of Peace is personified as a woman named Eirene, highlighting the cultural significance of the name during that time.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Irena. One of the most famous was Irena Sendler (1910-2008), a Polish social worker who smuggled thousands of Jewish children out of the Warsaw Ghetto during World War II, risking her life to save them from the Holocaust.
Another remarkable figure was Irena Jasiewicz (1900-1987), a Polish artist and sculptor known for her contributions to the Art Deco movement. Her works adorned many public spaces and buildings in pre-war Warsaw.
In the literary world, Irena Krzywicka (1888-1976) was a renowned Polish writer, feminist, and social activist who advocated for women's rights and education during the early 20th century.
Irena Dubiská (1923-2005) was a Slovak writer and translator who played a significant role in promoting Slovak literature internationally. She translated works by renowned authors such as Milan Kundera and Bohumil Hrabal into Slovak.
Irena Sedlecká (1928-2020) was a Czech singer and actress who became a beloved figure in Czechoslovak popular culture during the mid-20th century. She performed in numerous films, theater productions, and television shows, captivating audiences with her talent and charm.
People
Irena + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Irena 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
Irena: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Irena?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,373 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Irena 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 249,639 US residents.
Is Irena a common name?
We classify Irena as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,162 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Irena most popular?
The single biggest year for Irena was 2024, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Irena 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 Irena in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,056 people with the name Irena, or 2.01 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,433 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 Irena 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 Irena?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Irena appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,054 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Irena?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Irena is White at 87.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Irena most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Irena in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.5% (5,299 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 Irena in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Irena a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Irena 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 Irena still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Irena 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 Irena 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 have the name Irena?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Irena, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.