Ivy
Masculine · “Old English ifig”
Ivy is given to both — 3,460 boys and 82,713 girls since 1880. See Ivy as a girl nameSee other names given to both
A bush of ivy hung outside a door was the sign of a tavern, because the plant was sacred to Dionysus. The proverb good wine needs no bush comes from that, and the sign survived in English inn names for centuries after anyone remembered why.
How old is the name Ivy?
Ivy was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Ivy alive today was born around 1942, making them about 83 years old. About 1,500 people named Ivy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ivy most popular?
Ivy peaked in 1892, reaching #458 nationally. Today it ranks #9714, 9,256 places below that high. See the whole 1892 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From ifig to Ivy
The story of Ivy
Ivy was the plant of Dionysus, worn as a crown by his followers and twined round the thyrsus, and its evergreen persistence made it a natural emblem for a god associated with returning life. Roman wine sellers advertised with an ivy bush on a pole outside the door, and the practice carried into medieval England, where an ale-stake with greenery attached marked a house selling drink; the Bush is still a common pub name. The proverb, good wine needs no bush, means that a genuinely good product does not need advertising, and Shakespeare uses it in the epilogue to As You Like It. The plant itself is neither a parasite nor generally harmful to healthy trees, contrary to a persistent belief; it climbs by adhesive rootlets and takes its nutrients from the soil.
Meaning
Old English ifig, ivy
Ivy is from Old English ifig, the climbing evergreen, and it entered English naming with the Victorian fashion for flower and plant names. The male entries in the American record are few and are most likely family surnames or transcription. The male peak is 1892, at the height of the plant-name wave.
How the name formed
- ifig
- ivy
- Ivy
Related forms: Ivey · Ivie
Pronouncing Ivy
EYE-vee
Two syllables, stress on the first. It is said exactly like the plant word, with no name-specific pronunciation.
Nicknames for Ivy
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
- 191661 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #458reached in 1892
- Change vs 2022
- −75.0%7 in 2025, from 28
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.
Ivy in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ivey in English — spelling variant
- Ivie in English — spelling variant
Ivys among us
people named Ivy are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 244,011 born in 2025 was named Ivy
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
Ivy 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
Ivy beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Ivy in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Three letters and two syllables, impossible to mispronounce.
- The plant is familiar everywhere.
- It is short and instantly recognizable.
- It is read as a girl's name almost everywhere.
- It is an everyday word for a plant.
- The 1892 peak places it in the Victorian fashion.
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What they receive
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Ivy
Masculine · #9714 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Ivys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,500 people named Ivy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ivy in 2025?
- Ivy ranks #9714 among US boy names in 2025, with 7 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Ivy?
- About 1 in every 244,011 US boys born in 2025 was named Ivy — 7 in all.
- Will my child share the name Ivy with classmates?
- Ivy will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Ivy
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Vern#9714 · Abrahm#9714 · Sid#9714 · Hartwell#9714 · Kwan#9714 · Adrean#9714 · Chancey#9714 · Bob#9714
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ivy? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Ivy and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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