Isis
An ancient Egyptian name referring to the goddess of fertility.
Name Census estimates that about 11,502 living Americans carry the first name Isis. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Isis today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isis births was 2005 (561 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isis. 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 Isis with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 29,800 Americans
Peak year
2005
561 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2006 SSA rank
#1,082
Tracked since 1901
Census
Isis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 12,079 people with the first name Isis, which placed it at #2,187 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
#2,187
National first-name rank
People counted
12K
12,079 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
50.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isis is Hispanic at 50.4%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and White (15.1%). 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 Isis 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 Isis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino50.4% · 6,090
- Black or African American26.0% · 3,140
- White15.1% · 1,828
- Two or more races6.2% · 750
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 183
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 88
Gender
Gender distribution for Isis
Out of the 11,762 babies given the name Isis since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Isis as a male name
- Ranked #11,177 in 2006
- 6 male births in 2006
- Peak: 2001 (6 births)
Isis as a female name
- Ranked #1,082 in 2024
- 228 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2005 (561 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isis appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,086 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Isis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Isis from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 5,070 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Isis 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 Isis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Isis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Isis, while Maine, Iowa, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 234 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Isis
The name Isis has its origins in ancient Egyptian mythology and language. It is derived from the Egyptian word "Ese", meaning "throne" or "seat". Isis was one of the most significant deities in the ancient Egyptian pantheon, revered as the ideal wife and mother, as well as the goddess of fertility, healing, and magic.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Isis can be traced back to the Old Kingdom of Egypt, around 2686-2181 BC. The name appears frequently in ancient Egyptian texts, including the Pyramid Texts and the Book of the Dead, which were funerary texts inscribed on the walls of ancient Egyptian tombs and pyramids.
One of the most famous historical figures with the name Isis was the ancient Egyptian queen, Isis the Great, who ruled as the fifth ruler of the 26th Dynasty of Egypt from 690-685 BC. She was the daughter of Psamtik I and is known for her efforts in restoring Egyptian traditions and customs.
In Greek mythology, Isis was associated with the goddess Demeter, and her worship spread throughout the Greco-Roman world. The name appears in various ancient Greek and Roman texts, including the writings of Plutarch, Diodorus Siculus, and Apuleius.
During the Renaissance period, the name Isis was revived by humanists and scholars who were fascinated by ancient Egyptian culture. One notable figure was Isis Nogarola (1420-1466), an Italian Renaissance humanist and one of the first women to deliver public orations.
Another historical figure named Isis was Isis Unveiled (1831-1891), the famous Russian occultist and author, whose real name was Helena Petrovna Blavatsky. She founded the Theosophical Society and wrote the influential book "Isis Unveiled" in 1877, which explored ancient and esoteric wisdom.
In more recent times, the name Isis has been used by a few notable individuals, such as Isis Gee (born 1987), a British actress and model, and Isis King (born 1985), an American actress and model who was the first transgender contestant on America's Next Top Model.
People
Isis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isis 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
Isis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,502 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isis 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 29,800 US residents.
Is Isis a common name?
We classify Isis as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,762 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isis most popular?
The single biggest year for Isis was 2005, when 561 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isis is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Isis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 12,079 people with the name Isis, or 4.00 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,187 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 Isis 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 Isis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isis appears almost entirely female. Of the 12,086 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Isis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isis is Hispanic at 50.4%. The next largest groups are Black (26.0%) and White (15.1%). 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 Isis most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Isis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.4% (6,090 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 Isis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isis a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Isis 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 Isis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isis 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 Isis 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 Isis?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.