Inger
Feminine · “the god Ing”
Inger opens with the name of a god. Ing was a Germanic deity whose name is barely attested and who left a very large mark: he opens a long list of Scandinavian names, he gave a dynasty its name, and the tribal group that produced part of England is thought by some to be named after him. The god himself is almost entirely lost.
How old is the name Inger?
Inger first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Inger alive today was born around 1965, making them about 60 years old. About 1,100 people named Inger are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Inger most popular?
Inger peaked in 1966, reaching #929 nationally. See the whole 1966 chart.
Where it comes from
From A Germanic god known mostly from names to Inger
The story of Inger
What is known about the god fits on a page. He is named in an Old English rune poem, he appears in Norse sources as an alternative name for a fertility god, a Swedish royal dynasty claimed descent from him and took his name, and a rune is named after him. There is no myth about him that survives, no story, no account of what he did. Everything else is inference from names: dozens of Scandinavian personal names open with the element, several place names carry it, and the sheer weight of them suggests a deity who mattered a great deal to people who left no literature. It is one of the clearest cases of a figure known almost entirely from the names of people who were called after him.
Meaningscholars disagree
the god Ing, and a guardian
The first element is the god's name and is not in doubt as an element; what the name meant before it was a god's name is unrecoverable. The second is disputed between words meaning a guardian, an army and an enclosure. So half the compound is a proper name and half is contested, which is the ordinary situation for Norse compounds.
How the name formed
- A Germanic god known mostly from names
- A long list of Scandinavian names built on his
- Inger as a Norwegian and Danish woman's name
- Carried to America by Scandinavian families
Related forms: Inger · Inger · Ingrid
Pronouncing Inger
ING-er
Two syllables, stress on the first, with a hard g in Scandinavian use. English speakers often say IN-jer with a soft g, which is not how it is said anywhere it is native, and which reads as a man's name to some ears.
Nicknames for Inger
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1888
- Most girls named
- 1964107 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #929reached in 1966
- Change vs 1985
- −44.4%5 in 1986, from 9
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Inger in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Inger in Norwegian — same name
- Inger in Danish — same name
- Ingrid in Swedish — related form
Ingers among us
people named Inger are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Inger sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, clear and used unchanged across Norway and Denmark.
- It carries a genuine piece of Germanic religion that almost nobody knows about.
- Inge is available as a short form and is a complete name of its own.
- English speakers will soften the g and read the name as masculine.
- It is unfamiliar enough in America to be spelled out constantly.
- The second element is contested, so the meaning is half-recoverable.
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What they receive
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Inger
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Ingers are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,100 people named Inger are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Inger in 2025?
- Inger is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Inger with classmates?
- Inger will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More I names
The most-given names starting with I, all years combined.
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Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Inger? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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