Iria
An invented name likely derived from the Portuguese word "iria" meaning "wrath" or "anger".
Name Census estimates that about 84 living Americans carry the first name Iria. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 90.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Iria today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Iria births was 2002 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Iria. 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 Iria with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Iria. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
84
~ 1 in 4,080,409 Americans
Peak year
2002
8 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
1927 SSA rank
#4,476
Tracked since 1916
Census
Iria in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 408 people with the first name Iria, which placed it at #23,859 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
#23,859
National first-name rank
People counted
408
408 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
53.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Iria
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iria is Hispanic at 53.4%. The next largest groups are White (24.5%) and Black (15.9%). 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 Iria 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 Iria at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino53.4% · 218
- White24.5% · 100
- Black or African American15.9% · 65
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.2% · 13
- Two or more races2.9% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Iria
Iria leans heavily female at 90.0% of total registrations, but 10 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Iria as a male name
- Ranked #4,476 in 1927
- 5 male births in 1927
- Peak: 1921 (5 births)
Iria as a female name
- Ranked #16,174 in 2024
- 5 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Iria leans strongly female. 380 people counted with this name were female (93.6%), compared with 26 male bearers (6.4%).
Popularity
Iria: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Iria from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 36 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Iria remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Iria 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 Iria 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 Iria
The name Iria has its roots in the Basque language and culture, originating in the Basque Country region of Spain and France. It is believed to be derived from the Basque word "iri," meaning "town" or "city." This suggests that the name may have been originally used to refer to someone who lived in or was associated with a particular town or urban area.
Iria is an ancient name with a long history in the Basque region. It is documented in medieval Basque texts and records from as early as the 11th century, indicating its widespread use during this time period. Some scholars believe that the name may have even older origins, potentially tracing back to pre-Christian Basque cultures.
In the historical records of the Basque Country, the name Iria appears several times associated with notable individuals. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Iria Andreamunea (c. 1100-1170), a noblewoman and landowner from the town of Hernani. Another notable figure was Iria Lopez de Haro (c. 1170-1235), a prominent member of the Haro family, who held significant influence in the region during the 13th century.
Moving into the Renaissance period, Iria Garzia de Salazar (c. 1480-1555) was a Basque writer and historian known for her chronicles documenting the history and customs of the Basque people. In the 17th century, Iria Zuloaga (1604-1672) was a renowned Basque painter and engraver whose works are still celebrated today.
Across the centuries, the name Iria has also been carried by several religious figures and saints. One example is Saint Iria (c. 650-653), a young Basque martyr who was killed for her Christian faith during the Umayyad conquest of the region. Her story and veneration as a saint helped to further popularize the name among Basque Christians.
While the name Iria has deep roots in the Basque culture, it has also spread to other regions and languages over time. Variations of the name, such as Iria, Iria, and Irea, can be found in various parts of Spain, Portugal, and even parts of Latin America, reflecting the influence of Basque language and culture in these areas.
People
Iria + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Iria 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
Iria: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iria?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 84 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Iria 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 4,080,409 US residents.
Is Iria a common name?
We classify Iria as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 100 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Iria most popular?
The single biggest year for Iria was 2002, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Iria is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Iria in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 408 people with the name Iria, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,859 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 Iria 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 Iria?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Iria leans strongly female. 380 people counted with this name were female (93.6%), compared with 26 male bearers (6.4%). 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 Iria?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iria is Hispanic at 53.4%. The next largest groups are White (24.5%) and Black (15.9%). 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 Iria most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Iria in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.4% (218 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 Iria in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Iria a female name?
Yes, 90.0% of people registered as Iria 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 Iria still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Iria 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 Iria 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 called Iria?
You can see how many Americans are named Iria on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.