Ivory
Feminine · Latin roots · “ivory”
Ivory is given to both — 14,546 girls and 8,568 boys since 1880. See Ivory as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Ivory reached English as the name of a material: Latin ebur became ivoire in Old French, ivorie in Middle English, and finally settled into the spelling we use now. It has been on American name records for generations, given in small numbers rather than waves, and it is climbing again. In the mouth it moves like Ivy and Avery — an open first syllable, then a soft fall.
How old is the name Ivory?
Ivory first appears in US birth records in 1886 — 139 years ago. The typical Ivory is a kid of about 11 — this name's wave is very recent. About 12,500 people named Ivory are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ivory most popular?
Ivory peaked in 2025, reaching #378 nationally. Today it ranks #378, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Ivory appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From ebur (Latin) to Ivory
The story of Ivory
This is a word name, and an old word: ivory has meant tusk in English since the Middle Ages, when it arrived from Old French as one of the many Norman-era borrowings that reshaped the language. As a given name it belongs to the English-speaking habit of naming children after precious and beautiful substances — the same instinct behind Pearl, Opal and Amber. American records show it given to boys as well as girls in earlier generations, with particularly steady use in the South, though today it is recorded overwhelmingly for girls. Its recent rise runs alongside the wider return of color and gemstone names.
Meaning
ivory — the hard creamy-white material of elephant tusk, and the pale off-white shade named after it
The English word came through Old French ivoire from Latin ebur. How ebur itself arose is less clear; the Latin is where the secure trail begins.
How the name formed
- eburLatin
- ivoireOld French
- ivorieMiddle English
- Ivory
Pronouncing Ivory
EYE-vuh-ree
Often compressed to two syllables in fast speech, EYE-vree, exactly as the ordinary word is. Both are the same name; no correcting needed.
Nicknames for Ivory
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
- 1886
- Most girls named
- 2025810 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #378reached in 2025
- Change vs 2022
- +35.2%810 in 2025, from 599
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.
Ivory in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California, Florida.
Ivorys among us
people named Ivory are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,984 born in 2025 was named Ivory
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 Jazlyn test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Ivory's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jazlyn climbed just as high around 2008, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jazlyn's path sketches the road Ivory is walking now.
Ivory 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 Ivory is headed
Ivory looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 19% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
High 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.
Ivory beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ivory in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelling needs no explaining — it is an English word most people can write on first hearing.
- Ivy is ready as a short form, and it is a familiar name itself, so the nickname needs no introduction.
- Not a recent invention: it has been given to American children for generations, so it carries a record rather than a trend.
- Sits naturally beside the other material names — Pearl, Opal, Amber, Hazel — while being far less often heard.
- Rare enough in practice that a classroom is unlikely to hold a second one.
- The ivory trade and elephant poaching are the association some adults reach for first. Children rarely make that link, but it is a real one and it comes up in conversation from time to time.
- Ivory is also a shade of off-white, familiar from paint charts, bridal fabric and Ivory soap, sold since the nineteenth century. Some people will hear the color or the brand before the name.
- Expect a certain amount of drift toward Ivy — from teachers, from relatives, from anyone in a hurry. Fine if you like Ivy; something to weigh if you do not.
- Earlier American generations gave it to boys too, so it does not signal a girl to everyone, particularly to older ears and in the South.
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What they receive
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Ivory
Feminine · Latin roots · #378 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ivorys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 12,500 people named Ivory are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ivory in 2025?
- Ivory ranks #378 among US girl names in 2025, with 810 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ivory?
- About 1 in every 1,984 US girls born in 2025 was named Ivory — 810 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ivory with classmates?
- Ivory will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ivory
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vanessa#377 · Laura#379 · Astrid#376 · Demi#380 · Amari#380 · Anya#375 · Giselle#382 · Malani#374
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ivory? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ivory and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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