girl's name
Mirren
MIRR-en
- Origin Scottish
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 6
- Popularity Rare
- Births on record 1,391
Scotland
#106
2024 births
Mirren is a girl's name taken from a male Irish saint, by way of a Scottish football club, and its meaning has never been settled. It ranks 106th in Scotland and is rising in our data.
- Mirren is a name of Scottish origin.
- Peaked in Scotland in 2023, when 58 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Scotland.
- Today about 1 in 930 babies in Scotland is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1996.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Mirren over time
Births per decade in Scotland, 1990s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2024, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1990s | 50 |
| 2000s | 277 |
| 2010s | 449 |
| 2020s (to 2024) | 258 |
What Mirren means
Mirren has no established meaning. The saint's name is variously written Mirin, Meadhrán and Merinus, and the readings offered — pleasant, or a diminutive of a word for merriment — are guesses rather than derivations.
Where Mirren comes from
Mirren comes from Saint Mirin, a seventh-century Irish monk who founded a community at Paisley and became the patron saint of that town. His name appears in too many spellings for a confident derivation, and the pleasant reading usually given rests on associating it with the Irish meadhair, mirth. What made it a girl's name is unusual: St Mirren F.C., founded in Paisley in 1877, carried the name through Scottish football, and the actress Helen Mirren — born Ilyena Lydia Mironoff to a Russian father who anglicized the family name in 1956 — carried it internationally. Her surname is Russian and unconnected to the saint. Modern Scottish parents using Mirren for daughters are drawing on the sound and the local association rather than on a female tradition, because there is not one.
Mirren in use
Mirren ranks 106th in Scotland with 41 births in 2024 and is rising in our data with a peak in 2023. Our records carry it only from 1996, which makes it one of the newest names in Scotland's top 200. It is very rare elsewhere at 3,222nd in England and Wales and 7,723rd in the United States, so it is close to Scottish-only.
How popular is Mirren?
In 2024, Mirren was given to 41 babies in Scotland, ranking #106 that year. It is a rare choice.
Where Mirren is used
Figures for Scotland withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Mirren
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Mirren also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Mirren over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Mirren 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 Mirren
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Mirren — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Mirren
What does the name Mirren mean?
Nothing established. The pleasant reading usually given is a guess based on a resemblance to the Irish for mirth.
Who was Saint Mirin?
A seventh-century Irish monk who founded a community at Paisley and is that town's patron saint.
Is Mirren related to Helen Mirren?
Her surname is an anglicization of the Russian Mironoff and is unconnected to the saint, though her fame carried the name.
How popular is Mirren?
106th in Scotland, and rare everywhere else.
Is Mirren a girl's or a boy's name?
Mirren is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Mirren?
Mirren has 2 syllables.
Is Mirren a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Mirren currently ranks #106 in Scotland. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.