Ivor
Of Celtic origin, meaning archer or bow wielder.
Name Census estimates that about 439 living Americans carry the first name Ivor. It is a predominantly male name (94.9% of registrations). The average person named Ivor today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ivor births was 1918 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ivor. 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 Ivor with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
439
~ 1 in 780,762 Americans
Peak year
1918
29 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,902
Tracked since 1896
Census
Ivor in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 982 people with the first name Ivor, which placed it at #12,612 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
#12,612
National first-name rank
People counted
982
982 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ivor
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ivor is White at 49.2%. The next largest groups are Black (34.3%) and Hispanic (5.7%). 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 Ivor 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 Ivor at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.2% · 483
- Black or African American34.3% · 337
- Hispanic or Latino5.7% · 56
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.3% · 52
- Two or more races5.2% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Ivor
Ivor leans heavily male at 94.9% of total registrations, but 46 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ivor as a male name
- Ranked #6,268 in 2024
- 14 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1918 (22 births)
Ivor as a female name
- Ranked #4,902 in 1929
- 5 female births in 1929
- Peak: 1921 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ivor leans strongly male. 940 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 39 female bearers (4.0%).
Popularity
Ivor: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ivor from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 164 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Ivor remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ivor 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 Ivor during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ivors live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ivor
The name Ivor is derived from the Welsh language and has its origins in the ancient Celtic culture. It is believed to have emerged around the 5th century AD, during the time when the Welsh language was developing and solidifying its roots.
Ivor is thought to be a variation of the Welsh name Yvori or Yvyr, which itself is derived from the Old Welsh word "ebyr" or "efyr," meaning "roe deer" or "young deer." This connection to nature and wildlife reflects the deep reverence and appreciation that the ancient Celtic people had for the natural world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ivor can be found in the Welsh Triads, a collection of traditional narratives and stories that date back to the Middle Ages. The Triads mention an Ivor Bach, a legendary figure who was said to be a skilled archer and hunter.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ivor. One of the most famous was Ivor Novello (1893-1951), a Welsh composer, playwright, and actor who achieved tremendous success in the early 20th century. His works, such as the musical "The Dancing Years," have left a lasting legacy in the world of theater and entertainment.
Another prominent Ivor was Ivor Bulmer-Thomas (1905-1993), a British civil servant and diplomat who served as the Governor of Bermuda from 1962 to 1967. His tenure was marked by his efforts to promote economic development and social progress in the British Overseas Territory.
In the realm of sports, Ivor Powell (1923-2018) was a Welsh rugby union player who represented Wales and the British Lions with distinction. He played as a fly-half and was part of the legendary Welsh team that won the Grand Slam in the 1950 Five Nations Championship.
Ivor Gurney (1890-1937) was a renowned English poet and composer who served in World War I. Despite suffering from mental illness later in life, his works, such as the collection "Severn and Somme," are celebrated for their evocative depictions of the natural world and the horrors of war.
Finally, Ivor Montagu (1904-1984) was a British filmmaker, writer, and producer who played a significant role in the development of the British documentary film movement. He was also an avid supporter of the Soviet Union and a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have carried the name Ivor, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of human endeavor.
People
Ivor + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ivor 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
Ivor: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ivor?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 439 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ivor 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 780,762 US residents.
Is Ivor a common name?
We classify Ivor as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 900 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ivor most popular?
The single biggest year for Ivor was 1918, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ivor is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ivor in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 982 people with the name Ivor, or 0.33 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,612 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 Ivor 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 Ivor?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ivor leans strongly male. 940 people counted with this name were male (96.0%), compared with 39 female bearers (4.0%). 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 Ivor?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ivor is White at 49.2%. The next largest groups are Black (34.3%) and Hispanic (5.7%). 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 Ivor most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ivor in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.2% (483 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 Ivor in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ivor a male name?
Yes, 94.9% of people registered as Ivor 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 Ivor still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ivor 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 Ivor 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 Ivor?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.