Irina
Feminine · “peace”
Irina is peace in Greek — eirene, the goddess of it — and it became one of the great Russian names through a Byzantine empress who ruled in her own name.
How old is the name Irina?
Irina first appears in US birth records in 1944 — 81 years ago. The typical Irina is a kid of about 10 — this name's wave is very recent. About 2,400 people named Irina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Irina most popular?
Irina peaked in 2024, reaching #1559 nationally. Today it ranks #1631, 72 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From eirene to Irina
The story of Irina
Irene of Athens ruled the Byzantine Empire as regent and then in her own right from 797 — the first woman to hold the imperial title outright, and she signed documents as emperor rather than empress. The name became standard across the Orthodox world. Russian and Eastern European emigration brought Irina to America, where it is in current use.
Meaning
peace
From the Greek eirene, 'peace', personified as one of the Horae. The word is ordinary Greek and the meaning undisputed. Russian, Ukrainian and Bulgarian all use Irina; the Greek Eirini and the Western Irene are the same name.
How the name formed
- eirene
- Eirene
- Irina
Related forms: Ирина · Eirini · Irene · Irina
Pronouncing Irina
ee-REE-nah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Russian says it the same way; English Irene is eye-REEN with two.
Nicknames for Irina
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
- 1944
- Most girls named
- 2024136 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1559reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −6.6%127 in 2025, from 136
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.
Irina in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ирина in Russian — transliteration
- Eirini in Greek — related form
- Irene in English — related form
- Irina in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Irinas among us
people named Irina are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 12,656 born in 2025 was named Irina
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 Lizzette test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Irina's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lizzette climbed just as high around 1967, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lizzette's path sketches the road Irina is walking now.
Irina is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Irina is headed
Irina should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Irina beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Irina in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The peace meaning is transparent, undisputed and about as good as meanings get.
- A Byzantine empress who ruled in her own right carries it.
- It is standard across Russian, Ukrainian, Bulgarian and Italian.
- Irene is the form English speakers will assume and it is said very differently.
- The Russian short form Ira is a masculine Hebrew name in English.
- It reads as distinctly Eastern European.
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What they receive
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Irina
Feminine · #1631 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Irinas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,400 people named Irina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Irina in 2025?
- Irina ranks #1631 among US girl names in 2025, with 127 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Irina?
- About 1 in every 12,656 US girls born in 2025 was named Irina — 127 in all.
- Will my child share the name Irina with classmates?
- Irina will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Irina
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Brisa#1631 · Kenley#1631 · Itzayana#1631 · Danica#1631 · Yael#1631 · Mika#1631 · Elanor#1631 · Arlene#1631
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Irina? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Irina and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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