Ivory
Masculine · “elephant tusk”
Ivory is given to both — 8,568 boys and 14,546 girls since 1880. See Ivory as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Ivory is the English word for elephant tusk, and it comes from Latin by way of Egyptian — the Latin ebur is generally traced to an African word for the elephant itself.
How old is the name Ivory?
Ivory was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Ivory alive today was born around 1955, making them about 70 years old. About 5,000 people named Ivory are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ivory most popular?
Ivory peaked in 1906, reaching #443 nationally. Today it ranks #3658, 3,215 places below that high. See the whole 1906 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ebur to Ivory
The story of Ivory
Ivory reached the Mediterranean from Africa and India and the word traveled with the material. English took it from French in the thirteenth century. Its use as a given name is nineteenth-century American and was given to boys in real numbers, alongside Pearl, Ruby and Golden; it is now more often given to girls. The trade the word names has a difficult modern history that the name carries whether or not it is meant to.
Meaning
elephant tusk; the color
From Latin eboreus, of ivory, through Old French ivoire; the Latin ebur is generally traced to an Egyptian or wider African word for an elephant, which makes the English word a very long-traveled borrowing.
How the name formed
- ebur
- ivoire
- ivory
Related forms: Ivoire · Marfil
Pronouncing Ivory
EYE-vuh-ree
Three syllables, first stressed. Often reduced to two, EYE-vree.
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1950178 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #443reached in 1906
- Change vs 2022
- −9.1%30 in 2025, from 33
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
The same name elsewhere
- Ivoire in French — related form
- Marfil in Spanish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Louisiana, Florida.
Ivorys among us
people named Ivory are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 56,936 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
Fashion outlook
Ivory 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
Where Ivory is headed
Ivory should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium 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 boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- An ordinary English word, so nobody has to be taught to say or spell it.
- Genuine nineteenth-century American use for boys, so it is a revival rather than an invention.
- Ivy and Rory are both complete short forms in their own right.
- The ivory trade and the poaching that supplies it are a serious modern issue the name carries.
- It is now given far more often to girls, so assumptions will run that way.
- The color sense is used of skin tone in ways that some will find loaded.
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What they receive
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Ivory
Masculine · #3658 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 5,000 people named Ivory are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ivory in 2025?
- Ivory ranks #3658 among US boy names in 2025, with 30 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ivory?
- About 1 in every 56,936 US boys born in 2025 was named Ivory — 30 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.
Jimmie#3658 · Mckinley#3658 · Menno#3658 · Claudio#3658 · Ezekial#3658 · Brandt#3658 · Benuel#3658 · Gustav#3658
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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