# Iris (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/iris/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Greek |
| Meaning | “rainbow” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 102,320 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 770 / 101,550 (99% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 11,112, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἶρις (Îris, “rainbow”).

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 1,051 | 303 |
| 2012 | 1,134 | 281 |
| 2013 | 1,251 | 254 |
| 2014 | 1,330 | 244 |
| 2015 | 1,510 | 216 |
| 2016 | 1,751 | 186 |
| 2017 | 1,990 | 149 |
| 2018 | 2,128 | 138 |
| 2019 | 2,196 | 128 |
| 2020 | 2,178 | 127 |
| 2021 | 2,582 | 107 |
| 2022 | 2,935 | 84 |
| 2023 | 2,939 | 78 |
| 2024 | 3,136 | 72 |
| 2025 | 3,729 | 61 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 9 | 6,734 |
| 2004 | 7 | 9,305 |
| 2006 | 5 | 12,763 |
| 2011 | 5 | 13,048 |
| 2012 | 5 | 12,983 |
| 2015 | 9 | 8,295 |
| 2017 | 6 | 11,299 |
| 2018 | 6 | 11,313 |
| 2019 | 6 | 11,301 |
| 2020 | 14 | 6,098 |
| 2021 | 14 | 6,155 |
| 2022 | 24 | 4,353 |
| 2023 | 17 | 5,545 |
| 2024 | 17 | 5,523 |
| 2025 | 12 | 6,954 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 376 | 147 |
| 2012 | 476 | 122 |
| 2013 | 505 | 106 |
| 2014 | 522 | 108 |
| 2015 | 558 | 102 |
| 2016 | 648 | 84 |
| 2017 | 654 | 81 |
| 2018 | 634 | 82 |
| 2019 | 658 | 81 |
| 2020 | 703 | 77 |
| 2021 | 746 | 70 |
| 2022 | 762 | 66 |
| 2023 | 741 | 61 |
| 2024 | 707 | 61 |
| 2025 | 759 | 57 |

## In other languages

- Danish: Iris
- Dutch: Iris
- Estonian: Iris
- Finnish: Iiris
- French: Iris
- German: Iris
- Hungarian: Írisz
- Japanese: アイリス
- Norwegian: Iris
- Portuguese: Íris
- Slovak: Íris
- Swedish: Iris

## People named Iris

- Iris Mittenaere, French beauty pageant winner (born 1993)
- Iris Apfel, American interior designer and fashion icon (1921–2024)
- Iris Chang, Chinese-American journalist and author of historical books (1968–2004)
- Iris Apatow, American actress
- Iris Marion Young, American philosopher (1949-2006)
- Iris Adrian, American actress (1912–1994)
- Iris van Herpen, Dutch fashion designer (born 1984)
- Iris DeMent, American singer and songwriter
- Iris Strubegger, Austrian model
- Iris Tanner, British swimmer, Olympic silver medallist (1906–1971)
- Iris Love, American archaeologist (1933-2020)
- Iris Duquesne, French Climate activist

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.