How common is the surname Irving?

14,896 people in the United States had the surname Irving in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 20,727 Americans. It ranked 2,433rd of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Irving?

Washington Irving, American writer, historian and diplomat (1783-1859), followed by John Irving.

Where is the surname Irving most common?

Wikidata records people named Irving in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.

How do you pronounce Irving?

Irving is /ˈɝ.vɪŋ/, 2 syllables.

Is the surname Irving getting more or less common?

More common. 13,997 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 14,896 in 2010, up 6.4%.

Is Irving also a first name?

Yes. Irving is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.

The surname Irving

A Scottish Gaelic place surname, carried by 14,896 people in the United States.

Pronounced /ˈɝ.vɪŋ/ 2 syllables Soundex I615 Also a first name

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Irving is more common than 98.5% of them.

Origin

Scottish Gaelic origin

Variant of the Scottish habitational surname Irvine, probably from a Celtic word cognate with Welsh ir, yr (“fresh”) + afon (“river”).

Irving is a place surname: taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.

One of 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 14,896 people named Irving in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 20,727 Americans. That is up 6.4% since 2000, when the Census counted 13,997.

#2,433

rank among US surnames

14,896

people in 2010

5.0

per 100,000 Americans

+6.4%

change since 2000 (was #2,372)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#2,424	Yazzie	14,949	20,653
#2,425	Strange	14,948	20,655
#2,426	Boles	14,946	20,657
#2,427	Mares	14,931	20,678
#2,428	Wilburn	14,928	20,682
#2,429	Malik	14,925	20,686
#2,430	Priest	14,915	20,700

Who is named Irving

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

51% of people named Irving identified as white (not Hispanic), 41% as Black (not Hispanic) and 2.9% as Hispanic or Latino (any race).

White (not Hispanic) 51%
Black (not Hispanic) 41%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.9%
Two or more races 2.7%
American Indian and Alaska Native 1.7%
Asian and Pacific Islander 0.5%

Compare: most common surnames among white Americans.

Famous Irvings

12 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Washington Irving
American writer, historian and diplomat (1783-1859)
John Irving
American novelist and screenwriter, born 1942
Kyrie Irving
American basketball player (born 1992)
David Irving
British author and Holocaust denier (born 1938)
Amy Irving
American actress, born 1953
George Irving
American actor, director (1874-1961)
Clifford Irving
American author and convicted fraudster (1930-2017)
William Irving
Actor (1893-1943)
Birk Irving
American freestyle skier, born 1999
Robert Irving III
American pianist and composer, born 1953
Richard Irving
American actor, film director and television director (1917-1990)
Ellis Irving
Australian actor, 1902–1983

Notable Irvings come mostly from the United States (10), the United Kingdom (1) and Australia (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Irving

Irving has the Soundex code I615, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code I615.

Other Scottish Gaelic surnames

All 277 Scottish Gaelic surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Irving come from?: Variant of the Scottish habitational surname Irvine, probably from a Celtic word cognate with Welsh ir, yr (“fresh”) + afon (“river”).
How common is the surname Irving?: 14,896 people in the United States had the surname Irving in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 20,727 Americans. It ranked 2,433rd of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Irving?: In the 2010 Census, 51% of people named Irving identified as white (not Hispanic), and 41% as Black (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Irving?: Washington Irving, American writer, historian and diplomat (1783-1859), followed by John Irving.
Where is the surname Irving most common?: Wikidata records people named Irving in the United States, the United Kingdom and Australia.
How do you pronounce Irving?: Irving is /ˈɝ.vɪŋ/, 2 syllables.
What type of surname is Irving?: Irving is a place surname, taken from where an ancestor lived or came from.
Is the surname Irving getting more or less common?: More common. 13,997 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 14,896 in 2010, up 6.4%.
Is Irving also a first name?: Yes. Irving is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.