Ival
A feminine name of unknown origin and meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 52 living Americans carry the first name Ival. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 70.0% of registrations being male. The average person named Ival today is around 87 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ival births was 1915 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ival. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Ival is about 87 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ivals were born before 1949.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ival. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
52
~ 1 in 6,591,430 Americans
Peak year
1915
22 babies that year
Average age
87
years old
1950 SSA rank
#3,924
Tracked since 1911
Census
Ival in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 151 people with the first name Ival, which placed it at #45,179 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
#45,179
National first-name rank
People counted
151
151 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
80.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ival
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ival is White at 80.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Ival 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 Ival at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White80.1% · 121
- Black or African American9.9% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino4.0% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.3% · 5
- Two or more races2.6% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Ival
Ival is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 424 total registrations, 297 (70.0%) were male and 127 (30.0%) were female.
Ival as a male name
- Ranked #3,924 in 1950
- 5 male births in 1950
- Peak: 1939 (17 births)
Ival as a female name
- Ranked #4,052 in 1938
- 6 female births in 1938
- Peak: 1918 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ival on both sides of the split. Of the 149 people counted with this name, 112 were male (75.2%) and 37 were female (24.8%).
Popularity
Ival: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ival from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 138 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ival 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 Ival during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ivals live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ival
The name Ival is believed to have its origins in the ancient Slavic languages, with roots that can be traced back to the early medieval period. The name is thought to be derived from the Old Slavic word "ivъ," which means "willow" or "willow tree." This connection to nature and the symbolism of the willow tree suggests a reverence for the natural world in the cultural traditions from which the name emerged.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ival can be found in the Novgorod Birch Bark Documents, a collection of ancient Slavic writings dating back to the 11th and 15th centuries. These documents, which were inscribed on pieces of birch bark, provide a glimpse into the daily lives and customs of the people living in the region of Novgorod during that time period.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ival. One such figure was Ival Kalita, a Grand Prince of Vladimir who ruled in the early 14th century. His reign was marked by his efforts to consolidate power and unite the Russian principalities under the rule of Moscow.
Another prominent figure was Ival Groznyi, better known as Ivan the Terrible, who reigned as Tsar of Russia from 1547 to 1584. While his rule was marked by both military conquests and cultural achievements, he is also remembered for his brutal treatment of his subjects and his role in the establishment of the Oprichnina, a secret police force responsible for widespread violence and oppression.
In the realm of literature, one cannot overlook the contributions of Ival Bunin, a Russian author and poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1933. Bunin's works, which often explored themes of love, loss, and the natural world, are celebrated for their lyrical prose and vivid imagery.
Another notable individual with the name Ival was Ival Pavlov, a Russian physiologist who is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in the field of psychology. Pavlov's groundbreaking work on classical conditioning, which involved the study of conditioned reflexes in dogs, earned him the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1904.
Lastly, Ival Krylov, a Russian writer and fabulist, is renowned for his contributions to the genre of fables. His works, which often featured anthropomorphized animals as characters, sought to impart moral lessons and satirize societal flaws, leaving an indelible mark on Russian literature.
People
Ival + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ival 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
Ival: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ival?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 52 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ival 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 6,591,430 US residents.
Is Ival a common name?
We classify Ival as "Very Rare". It ranks above 54.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 424 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ival most popular?
The single biggest year for Ival was 1915, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ival is about 87 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ival in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 151 people with the name Ival, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #45,179 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 Ival 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 Ival?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ival on both sides of the split. Of the 149 people counted with this name, 112 were male (75.2%) and 37 were female (24.8%). 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 Ival?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ival is White at 80.1%. The next largest groups are Black (9.9%) and Hispanic (4.0%). 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 Ival most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ival in the 2020 Census, accounting for 80.1% (121 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 Ival in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ival a male name?
Yes, 70.0% of people registered as Ival 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 Ival still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ival 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 Ival 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 Ival?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.