Ives
A masculine name derived from the French word "yew".
Name Census estimates that about 77 living Americans carry the first name Ives. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ives today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ives births was 2020 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ives. 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 Ives. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
77
~ 1 in 4,451,355 Americans
Peak year
2020
8 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,991
Tracked since 1919
Popularity
Ives: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ives from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 35 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ives 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 Ives 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 Ives
The given name Ives has its origins in the Old French language, derived from the Germanic name Ivo, which itself is a shortened form of the name Hivo or Ivo. This name can be traced back to the 8th century and is thought to have been derived from the Germanic word "iwa," meaning yew tree.
Ives was a relatively popular name among the French nobility during the Middle Ages. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ives can be found in the Domesday Book, a historical record commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. The book mentions an individual named Ives de Grandmesnil, who was a Norman landowner in England.
During the 12th century, there was a renowned French philosopher and theologian named Ives of Chartres (c. 1040-1115). He was a prominent figure in the scholastic movement and is known for his influential works on logic and metaphysics.
Another notable figure in history who bore the name Ives was Saint Ives (c. 1253-1303), a Breton priest and lawyer who became the patron saint of lawyers and abandoned causes. His feast day is celebrated on May 19th in the Catholic Church.
In the 15th century, there was a French architect named Ives le Breton (c. 1435-1514), who is credited with designing several notable buildings in Paris, including the Tour Saint-Jacques and the Petit-Pont.
Fast-forwarding to more recent times, Ives Gandra da Silva Martins (born 1935) is a prominent Brazilian jurist and writer who has served as a member of the Federal Supreme Court of Brazil.
While the name Ives has its roots in Old French and has been relatively popular throughout history, especially among the French nobility and clergy, it is less common in modern times. However, it remains an intriguing name with a rich historical background and connections to notable figures from various fields.
People
Ives + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ives 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
Ives: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ives?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 77 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ives 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 4,451,355 US residents.
Is Ives a common name?
We classify Ives as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 89 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ives most popular?
The single biggest year for Ives was 2020, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ives is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Ives a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ives 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.
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.