Irais
Feminine · “of Hera”
Irais is a fourth-century martyr, and she survives almost nowhere except Mexico. Herais of Alexandria, killed at Antinoe, is a real figure in the early Christian calendar, and her name reached Latin America through the Spanish saints' lists and stayed there.
How old is the name Irais?
Irais first appears in US birth records in 1981 — 44 years ago. The typical Irais alive today was born around 2002, making them about 23 years old. About 600 people named Irais are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Irais most popular?
Irais peaked in 2002, reaching #4381 nationally. Today it ranks #6546, 2,165 places below that high. See the whole 2002 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Hera to Irais
The story of Irais
Early Christian martyrologies preserve a great many names that vanished from ordinary use and survive only because they are attached to a feast day. Herais of Alexandria, a young woman martyred at Antinoe in Egypt, is one of them, and the Spanish form of her name is Irais, with a feast in September. Spanish and Portuguese saints' calendars were the source of most Latin American given names for four centuries, which is why obscure Greek and Egyptian martyrs are far commoner as names in Mexico than in Greece or Egypt. Irais entered United States records with Mexican families and had its best year in 2002.
Meaningscholars disagree
of Hera
The Greek name Herais is built on Hera, the goddess, with a suffix meaning belonging to; the goddess's own name is not securely explained, with readings including a word for season or year and a pre-Greek source. The identification of the Mexican Irais with Herais is the best-supported account and is not universally printed; some sources treat the Mexican name as unexplained.
How the name formed
- Hera
- Herais
- Irais
Related forms: Herais · Iraiz · Herais
Pronouncing Irais
ee-rah-EES
Three syllables with the stress at the end, and the ai is two separate vowels rather than a diphthong. English speakers reduce it to EYE-riss, which is a different name.
Nicknames for Irais
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
- 1981
- Most girls named
- 200228 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4381reached in 2002
- Change vs 2024
- +54.5%17 in 2025, from 11
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.
Irais in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Herais in Greek — related form
- Iraiz in Spanish — spelling variant
- Herais in Latin — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Iraiss among us
people named Irais are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 94,545 born in 2025 was named Irais
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Leonda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Irais's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Leonda climbed just as high around 1951, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Leonda's path sketches the road Irais is walking now.
Irais sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Irais beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Irais in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented early Christian martyr behind it, with a feast day.
- Genuinely rare while being ordinary within Mexican naming.
- Five letters, and the Spanish spelling matches the Spanish sound exactly.
- English speakers will read it as Iris and say it in two syllables.
- Iraiz and Irais both circulate in Mexican records.
- The connection to the Greek martyr is well supported but not universally printed.
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What they receive
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Irais
Feminine · #6546 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Iraiss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Irais are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Irais in 2025?
- Irais ranks #6546 among US girl names in 2025, with 17 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Irais?
- About 1 in every 94,545 US girls born in 2025 was named Irais — 17 in all.
- Will my child share the name Irais with classmates?
- Irais will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Irais
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseann#6546 · Solveig#6546 · Elona#6546 · Rosette#6546 · Bradie#6546 · Rida#6546 · Gwendalyn#6546 · Lorene#6546
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Irais? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Irais and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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