Ira
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Meaning
in Indian use a feminine name, Sanskrit "the Earth"; also Hebrew "watchful" (King David's priest, a Puritan-era American classic) and a Russian short form of Irina
The story
Ira is really several names sharing three letters. The old American Ira is Hebrew, "watchful", the name of King David's priest in the Old Testament; Behind the Name notes the Puritans brought it to America in the 17th century, and the records agree it stayed: about 1,900 boys in the 1890s, about 7,900 in the 1920s, still about 1,700 so far this decade, present in every decade of the record. The newer line is different: Behind the Name lists Ira as a short form of Irina, and in India it is a feminine name in its own right, Sanskrit for the Earth; the girls' side has climbed from about 96 in the 1990s to about 980 in the 2010s and about 1,050 so far this decade, already past every completed decade of its own record. A priest's name, a Russian nickname, and a Sanskrit Earth, all in two syllables.
The formal names behind Ira
Ira is an established short form of this name.
Irina · Russian origin · peace
How popular is Ira around the world?
In the United States, 2,731 babies were named Ira between 2020 and 2025. In New Zealand, 14 girls named Ira were registered in 2025.
Ira is on the official records of the United States, New Zealand, Canada, Ireland, England and Wales, South Australia, Austria, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 8,000
In the United States, 2,731 babies were named Ira between 2020 and 2025.
In 2025 Ira went to 222 girls and 301 boys in the US Social Security record, one of the few names given to girls and boys in nearly equal numbers. In US birth records Ira has stayed between 1,201 and 7,579 births in every decade since the 1950s: a name everyone knows and few children get.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
New Zealand
1 in 4,100
In New Zealand, 14 girls named Ira were registered in 2025.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time
Canada
1 in 5,500
In Canada, 35 girls named Ira were born in 2024, the 823rd most common name among girls that year.
In Canada, 32 boys named Ira were born in 2024, the 808th most common name among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
Ireland
1 in 9,000
In Ireland, 6 girls named Ira were born in 2025, the 544th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
England and Wales
1 in 10,000
In England and Wales, 39 girls named Ira were born in 2025, the 894th most common name among girls that year.
In England and Wales, 18 boys named Ira were born in 2025, ranked 1,466th among boys that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 boy was registered as Ira in 2017.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Austria
1 in 38,000
In Austria, 2 girls named Ira were born in 2025, ranked 1,305th among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Brazil
1 in 140,000
At the 2022 census, 1,341 people in Brazil were named Ira, ranked 6,793rd, with a median age of 44.
Among people named Ira living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1970s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 28 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
Spain
1 in 470,000
In Spain, 95 residents are named Ira, ranked 8,111th among women, with a mean age of 36.9 years.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
last on record 2020
Ira is not on the 2024 record for Argentina, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Montevideo City
last on record 1975
Ira is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 1 in a year, too few to chart.
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Poland
last on record 2024
Ira is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Not on the record in Mexico City, Puerto Rico and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Where Ira travels
Indian · Sanskrit "the Earth", in Puranic tradition the mother of all vegetation; a modern Indian feminine name
Keep exploring
Indian baby names · Indian American baby names · Short names · Truly unisex names · Familiar but never popular
The Ira deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ira truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Ira fits with your family’s names and surname.
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