Ivory
Meaning
from the material ivory
The story
Ivory is the word itself, precious, smooth and pale, and its record is one of the ledger's longest quiet residencies: real use every decade since the 1890s, a century between about 190 and 2,000, shared between sons and daughters the whole way, about 14,500 girls to 8,500 boys all-time. Then the modern turn changed its shape: about 3,900 in the 2010s and 4,000 so far this decade, and the split has moved decisively, 3,800 girls to 190 boys this decade. A century of quiet sharing, then a generation that heard it as a daughter's name: the record states the shift plainly and does not guess at reasons, which is the ledger's way. A material the law now protects, a word the piano keeps, and a name the record has carried for a hundred and thirty years without ever putting it down.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ivory peaked in the 2020s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
30 people · the #94,398 first name in Brazil · median age 50
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
The Ivory deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ivory 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 Ivory fits with your family’s names and surname.
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