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Irish

#13,860 in 2025UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Possibly Irishmen

Irish has been given to 1,608 babies in the U.S. since 1924. In 2025 it ranked #13,860 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 1960, with 40 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 90% girls, 10% boys all-time.

Babies named Irish, 2025

1 in 553,000

Irish over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
01020304018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Irish over time

In 2025, Irish went to 100% girls and 0% boys.

19242025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Irish: meaning, origin, and history

Possibly Irishmen

English

What Irish means

Irish may mean “Irishmen”, associated with Īras.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Middle English Irish (12th c.), from Old English *Īrisċ, from Old English Īras (“Irishmen”), from Old Norse Írar, from Old Irish Ériu (modern Irish Éire (“Ireland”)), further origin heavily debated but probably from Proto-Celtic *Φīweriyū (“fat land, fertile”), from Proto-Indo-European *péyh₂wr̥ (“fat, swelling”), from *peyh₂- (“to swell; to be fat”), akin to Ancient Greek πίειρα (píeira, “fertile land”), Sanskrit पीवरी (pīvarī, “fat”).

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Irish (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Irish is used in English and Cebuano. Its origins include English.

Irish comes through Middle English Irish, Old English *Īrisċ, Old English Īras, Old Norse Írar, Old Irish Ériu and Proto-Celtic *Φīweriyū.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Irish is pronounced /ˈaɪɹɪʃ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,453 girls were recorded with the name Irish between 1924 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 40 in 1960; its best national rank was #1,797 in 1960.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #7,035 in 2020 to #13,860 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #12,268 in 2015 to #13,860 in 2025.

In the United States, 155 boys were recorded with the name Irish between 1925 and 2024. Its highest annual count was 11 in 2005; its best national rank was #3,094 in 1965.

How common is Irish?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 553,000
6 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 268,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#13,860
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
382,984 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Irish sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 382,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Irish. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Irishs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Irish was born before 1969 — so the typical Irish is around 56 today.

Median birth year
1969
About 56 years old
Biggest decade
1960s
19.5% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
18.3%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
1,248
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1960s — 19.5% of all recorded uses (283).

Is Irish rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
−6,825
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,592
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.75×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
15.0%
Peak was 1960 (40)
Years since peak
65
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
31.6% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,797
1960

Spellings of Irish

Irish is not the most common spelling — Iris is, with 44.9% against Irish's 0.64%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Irish is used

Across 1910–2025, Irish was most concentrated in Georgia — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 233,485 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Georgia1 in 100,000
  2. 2North Carolina1 in 100,000
  3. 3Alabama1 in —
  4. 4Florida1 in —
  5. 5Virginia1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Irish has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Irish around the world

Where Irish ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • Canada
    2019–2019
    #3,370
    in 2019

Popularity data from Statistics Canada. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Irish by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#13,860
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 6,825
Best rank ever
#1,797
1960
Peak year
1960
40 that year
First recorded
1924
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,453
Count in 2025
6

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,094
1965
Peak year
2005
11 that year
First recorded
1925
Last recorded
2024
All-time count
155
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Irish

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

IrinaIrineIrieIrianaIrisaIrielAilishTrishEilishIridianParrishTishCharishIridessaIriniBritishIrielleIridianaAbrishIriannaIriaCherishParishIrisha

Sibling names for Irish

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Irish

Top names of 1960, Irish's peak yearThe 1960s in fullOther names that peaked in 1960Girls' names starting with I