Ivey
Masculine · “the ivy plant”
Ivey is given to both — 1,803 boys and 4,917 girls since 1880. See Ivey as a girl nameSee other names given to both
This name is climbing right now, and it is climbing for a reason that has nothing to do with it individually. The plant names have come back — Willow, Hazel, Juniper, Olive, Fern — and Ivy came with them, and the surname spelling has been carried up on the same wave.
How old is the name Ivey?
Ivey was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Ivey alive today was born around 1940, making them about 85 years old. About 700 people named Ivey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ivey most popular?
Ivey peaked in 1891, reaching #635 nationally. See the whole 1891 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ifig to Ivey
The story of Ivey
Before it was a Christmas decoration it was a pub sign. A bush or a bundle of ivy hung outside a building advertised that wine was sold there, a convention going back to Roman practice and lasting into early modern England — which is where the proverb about good wine needing no bush comes from. The plant was sacred to the god of wine, and the association survived the religion by more than a thousand years. A leaf that now means winter and holly and church decoration meant, for most of its history, that the place in front of you was serving drink.
Meaning
the ivy plant
The English word for the climbing plant, used as a name. This spelling also exists as a surname of separate origin, so a family may have arrived at it from either direction.
How the name formed
- ifig
- Ivy
- Ivey
Pronouncing Ivey
EYE-vee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The -ey and the -y are said identically; the difference marks a surname rather than a sound.
Nicknames for Ivey
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 191837 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #635reached in 1891
- Change vs 2021
- 0.0%5 in 2023, from 5
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.
Iveys among us
people named Ivey 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
Ivey 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
- The meaning is concrete, green and needs no explaining.
- It is short and the sound is completely settled.
- The spelling reads as a surname, which suits current taste.
- It is rising quickly, so a child is increasingly likely to meet others.
- Ivy is far commoner and the spelling gets corrected.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
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What they receive
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Ivey
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Iveys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Ivey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ivey in 2025?
- Ivey is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Ivey with classmates?
- Ivey will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More I names
The most-given names starting with I, all years combined.
Isaac#47 · Ian#83 · Isaiah#57 · Ivan#162 · Israel#315 · Ira#819 · Irving#1778 · Ismael#263
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ivey? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ivey and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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