Ive
Derived from ivy, symbolizing eternal life and steadfastness.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Ive. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 78.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Ive today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ive births was 1921 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ive. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ive. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1921
9 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
1921 SSA rank
#3,098
Tracked since 1919
Census
Ive in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 224 people with the first name Ive, which placed it at #35,741 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
#35,741
National first-name rank
People counted
224
224 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
33.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ive
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ive is White at 33.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Hispanic (27.7%). 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 Ive 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 Ive at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White33.0% · 74
- Black or African American29.9% · 67
- Hispanic or Latino27.7% · 62
- Two or more races4.9% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Ive
Ive is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 42 total registrations, 9 (21.4%) were male and 33 (78.6%) were female.
Ive as a male name
- Ranked #3,098 in 1921
- 9 male births in 1921
- Peak: 1921 (9 births)
Ive as a female name
- Ranked #13,044 in 1998
- 6 female births in 1998
- Peak: 1932 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ive on both sides of the split. Of the 231 people counted with this name, 74 were male (32.0%) and 157 were female (68.0%).
Popularity
Ive: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ive from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 14 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Ive remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ive 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 Ive 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 Ive
The given name Ive is believed to have originated from the Old Norse language, tracing its roots back to the Viking age and the medieval period in Scandinavia. It is derived from the Old Norse word "iviðr," which means "yew tree" or "archer." This connection to archery and the yew tree, known for its utility in crafting longbows, suggests a warrior or hunter heritage.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Ive can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of historical tales and literature from the 13th and 14th centuries. These sagas often featured characters with names rooted in Old Norse, reflecting the cultural traditions of the time.
In the Middle Ages, the name Ive gained popularity across various regions of Europe, particularly in areas influenced by Germanic and Norse cultures. It was commonly used in countries like Germany, Denmark, and Norway, where variations such as Ivo, Ivo, and Ivar were also prevalent.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Ive was Ive de Chartres, a prominent French philosopher and theologian from the 12th century. He played a significant role in the development of scholastic philosophy and was known for his contributions to the study of logic and metaphysics.
Another historical figure worth mentioning is Ive de Vergy, a 13th-century French nobleman and knight who served under King Philip II of France. He was renowned for his bravery and military exploits during the Crusades.
In the realm of literature, the name Ive appears in the works of the Danish writer and poet Piet Hein, who lived from 1905 to 1996. One of his most famous creations was the character Ive Munter, a recurring figure in his humorous and philosophical writings.
Moving forward in time, Ive Andrić was a prominent Yugoslav novelist and short story writer who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1961. He is celebrated for his works that explored the cultural and historical complexities of Bosnia and the Balkans.
Lastly, Ive Mihovilović was a Croatian novelist and playwright born in 1918. He is considered one of the most significant figures in Croatian literature of the 20th century, known for his exploration of themes related to the human condition and the sociopolitical landscape of his time.
While the name Ive may have diminished in popularity in recent decades, its historical roots and cultural significance remain intact, serving as a testament to the rich tapestry of linguistic and cultural traditions that have shaped our understanding of names and their meanings.
People
Ive + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ive 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
Ive: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ive?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ive 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Ive a common name?
We classify Ive as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 42 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ive most popular?
The single biggest year for Ive was 1921, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ive is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ive in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 224 people with the name Ive, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,741 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 Ive 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 Ive?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ive on both sides of the split. Of the 231 people counted with this name, 74 were male (32.0%) and 157 were female (68.0%). 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 Ive?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ive is White at 33.0%. The next largest groups are Black (29.9%) and Hispanic (27.7%). 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 Ive most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ive in the 2020 Census, accounting for 33.0% (74 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 Ive in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ive a female name?
Yes, 78.6% of people registered as Ive 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 Ive still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ive 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 Ive 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 Ive?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.