Iris
Masculine · “rainbow”
Iris is given to girls far more often — 101,550 girls against 770 boys since 1880. See Iris as a girl name
One Greek word names a goddess, a flower, a weather phenomenon and a part of the eye. Iris is the rainbow, and the goddess who carries messages along it; the flower is named for its colors and the eye's iris for its ring of them.
How old is the name Iris?
Iris first appears in US birth records in 1907 — 118 years ago. The typical Iris alive today was born around 1951, making them about 74 years old. About 400 people named Iris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Iris most popular?
Iris peaked in 1907, reaching #1345 nationally. Today it ranks #6803, 5,458 places below that high. See the whole 1907 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From iris to Iris
The story of Iris
Iris in Homer is the messenger who travels between gods and mortals, the counterpart of Hermes and the personification of the rainbow that joins earth to sky; the rainbow itself is her road. Naming the flower after her is Greek botanical practice, and the eye's iris follows from the same colors. The name is overwhelmingly a woman's name in English, and the male row in American records is small and early, with a best year of 1907; it likely holds a mixture of clerical entries and families for whom the name honored a relative regardless of sex. It is also a Spanish and Portuguese woman's name.
Meaning
rainbow
Greek iris, a rainbow, and the name of the goddess who serves as messenger of the gods, particularly of Hera. The flower genus is named for the range of colors in its blooms, and the colored ring of the eye takes the same word. The Greek word's own origin is not securely recovered beyond that.
How the name formed
- iris
- Iris
Related forms: Iris · Iris · Iris · Iris
Pronouncing Iris
EYE-ris
Two syllables with the stress on the first. Spanish and German say EE-ris with a short first vowel, which is closer to the Greek.
Nicknames for Iris
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
- 1907
- Most boys named
- 202224 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1345reached in 1907
- Change vs 2023
- −29.4%12 in 2025, from 17
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.
Iris in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Iris in Greek — same name
- Iris in Spanish — same name
- Iris in German — same name
- Iris in Dutch — same name
Iriss among us
people named Iris are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 142,340 born in 2025 was named Iris
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Iris 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
Iris beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Iris in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A settled Greek meaning with four separate things named after it.
- Four letters, two syllables, and no spelling difficulty in any language.
- Recognized across the whole of Europe.
- In the United States and everywhere else it is overwhelmingly a woman's name.
- It is also an ordinary English noun for part of the eye.
- The Greek and English pronunciations differ in the first vowel.
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What they receive
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Iris
Masculine · #6803 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Iriss are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 400 people named Iris are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Iris in 2025?
- Iris ranks #6803 among US boy names in 2025, with 12 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Iris?
- About 1 in every 142,340 US boys born in 2025 was named Iris — 12 in all.
- Will my child share the name Iris with classmates?
- Iris will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Iris
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Zeb#6803 · Buster#6803 · Fabien#6803 · Eston#6803 · Tyjuan#6803 · Fuad#6803 · Aaiden#6803 · Sanford#6803
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Iris? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Iris and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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