Girls' name · peaked in 1916

Irene name popularity since 1925

195,208 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Irene. Half of them were born in 1943 or earlier, so the typical Irene is about 83 years old in 2026. Irene peaked in 1916 as the #17 name for girls, and it ranked #651 in 2025.

US babies since 1925: 195,208; Named Irene, 1925–2025
Peak year: 1916; #17 for girls that year
Typical age: About 83; Median birth year 1943
In 2025: #651; for girls in 2025 (442 babies)
Girls / boys: 99.6% girls; 194,364 girls · 844 boys
Most popular in: North Dakota; 2.36× its national share

Peak year is the year Irene made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.

Irene births per year, 1925–2025

The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Irene peaked earlier, in 1916.

Steepest fall: Between 1950 and 1955, Irene's share of baby girls fell by 44%, from 1 in 448 to 1 in 804.

Shaded on the chart. This compares Irene's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Irene.

Decade by decade

Babies named Irene in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).

Decade	Girls	Boys	Rank
1925–29	41,985	196	–
1930s	44,448	250	#52
1940s	31,822	146	#97
1950s	26,978	102	#147
1960s	15,451	48	#211
1970s	8,289	36	#315
1980s	7,104	55	#352
1990s	5,969	6	#426
2000s	5,153	0	#580
2010s	4,465	0	#629
2020–25	2,700	5	#651

Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.

Generation fingerprint

40.5% of babies named Irene from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:

Where Irene is most popular

The index compares Irene's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Irene.

State	Index	Babies
North Dakota	2.36×	1,437
Hawaii	2.03×	1,226
Rhode Island	2.03×	1,393
New Mexico	1.97×	2,104
New Hampshire	1.93×	1,176

Names with a similar story

Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Irene's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Irene.

Names from the same era

Other common names that peaked within two years of Irene (1916).

Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data