girl's name
Irene
eye-REEN
- Origin Greek
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 5
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 445,383
the United States
#651
2025 births
Irene is a girl's name from the Greek word for peace, and the name of the goddess who personified it. Our data marks it stable, and it charts in four markets more than a century after its 1921 peak.
- Irene is a name of Greek origin.
- Peaked in 1921, when 10,657 babies were given the name.
- Its usage has held steady over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 7,501 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Irene over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 4,007 |
| 1890s | 13,672 |
| 1900s | 23,752 |
| 1910s | 69,162 |
| 1920s | 93,192 |
| 1930s | 44,698 |
| 1940s | 31,968 |
| 1950s | 27,080 |
| 1960s | 15,499 |
| 1970s | 8,325 |
| 1980s | 7,159 |
| 1990s | 5,975 |
| 2000s | 5,153 |
| 2010s | 4,465 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,705 |
What Irene means
Irene means peace. The Greek word is the ordinary noun, and it named a goddess who personified peace rather than describing any quality of a person.
Where Irene comes from
Irene is the Greek Eirene, peace, and in Greek religion Eirene was one of the Horae, the goddesses of the seasons and of ordered life, alongside Justice and Good Order. Athens set up a public statue of her holding the infant Wealth, making the political argument that peace produces prosperity. The name passed into Christian use through Saint Irene and through the Byzantine empress Irene, who ruled in her own right at the end of the eighth century and was styled basileus, emperor, rather than the feminine form. The same root gives irenic, meaning peace-promoting.
Irene in use
Irene peaked in the United States in 1921, when 10,657 babies were registered, and our data marks it stable rather than falling. It now ranks 439th in Ireland on 9 births, 535th in France on 90, 651st in the United States on 442 and 1023rd in England and Wales, across 445,383 lifetime births. Stability more than a century after a peak places it with Helen, Virginia and Harold, all of which peaked between 1918 and 1924 and none of which is still declining.
How popular is Irene?
In 2025, Irene was given to 442 babies in the United States, ranking #651 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Irene is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Irene is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Irène | Irène is Irene written with a grave accent in France, and the spelling parents there overwhelmingly choose: it ranks #535 in France, against #7,062 for Irene. | 84,130 |
| Iréné | Iréné is Irene written with an acute accent in France, and the spelling parents there overwhelmingly choose: it ranks #913 in France, against #7,062 for Irene. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Irene
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Irene also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Irene over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Irene
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Irene in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Irene
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Irene — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Irene
What does the name Irene mean?
Peace — the Greek eirene, and the name of the goddess who personified it.
Who was the goddess Irene?
Eirene, one of the Horae, shown in Athens holding the infant Wealth to argue that peace produces prosperity.
How do you say Irene?
eye-REEN in English. The Greek and continental European forms are said in three syllables.
How popular is Irene?
651st in the United States, and our data marks it stable rather than falling.
Is Irene a girl's or a boy's name?
Irene is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Irene?
Irene has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Irene?
Irene is usually shortened to Rene and Reenie.
Is Irene a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Irene currently ranks #439 in the United States. Its usage has held steady over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.