Every Girl Name

Girl's name

Iris

Say it EYE-ris

Greek origin rainbow 2 syllables

Sister names Middle names Deal sisters

Where Iris is loved, common and rare

Common across France, Sweden, Italy and nine more places. Rare in Scotland, three German cities, Ireland and six more places.

1 in 334 girls born in England and Wales in 2025

Every place

In 23 of the 40 official lists, among them France (11th), Sweden (19th) and Italy (55th).

Show all 23 placesShow less
PlaceRankGirlsShare
France11th 20252,1101 in 136
Sweden19th 2025347about 1 in 116
Italy55th 20246521 in 275
England and Wales57th 20257591 in 334
Spain66th 2024389rank only
Catalonia region69th 2025641 in 301
Ontario province75th 2024124about 1 in 439
New Zealand79th 202548rank only
Slovenia81st 202522about 1 in 300
Switzerland99th 2025801 in 425
Norway100th 2025591 in 369
Scotland116th 2025381 in 471
Munich city124th 202510about 1 in 419
Ireland141st 2025321 in 660
British Columbia province156th 202319about 1 in 629
Austria171st 2025361 in 992
Quebec province171st 202533about 1 in 788
The Netherlands173rd 202589about 1 in 686
Northern Ireland334th 202541 in 1,822
Berlin city339th 20239about 1 in 1,612
Poland706th 202521 in 59,894
Croatia42nd 2025102rank only
Leipzig city344th 20251about 1 in 2,624

Rare, below the listed names: New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Cologne, Bonn, Rostock, Hungary and Israel.

Not in a short top list, so no figure: Nova Scotia (top 21), Denmark (top 50), Finland (top 50), Iceland (top 10), Estonia (top 25), Moscow (top 61), Turkey (top 30) and Argentina (top 20).

Germany publishes no national statistics on first names. German figures here are city lists (Berlin, Munich, Cologne, Bonn, Leipzig, Rostock), never the country.

Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (France); Skatteverket (Swedish Tax Agency) (Sweden); ISTAT, Contanomi (Italy); Office for National Statistics (England and Wales); INE (Instituto Nacional de Estadística) (Spain); Idescat (Institut d'Estadística de Catalunya) (Catalonia); Ontario Office of the Registrar General (Ontario Data Catalogue) (Ontario); Department of Internal Affairs (DIA), SmartStart (New Zealand); Statistični urad Republike Slovenije (SURS), SiStat (Slovenia); Bundesamt für Statistik (BFS) / Office fédéral de la statistique (OFS) (Switzerland); Statistics Norway (SSB) (Norway); National Records of Scotland (Scotland); Landeshauptstadt München, Statistisches Amt (opendata.muenchen.de) (Munich); Central Statistics Office (CSO) (Ireland); BC Vital Statistics Agency (BC Data Catalogue) (British Columbia); Statistik Austria (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1) (Austria); Retraite Québec (Banque de prénoms, Données Québec) (Quebec); Sociale Verzekeringsbank (SVB) (the Netherlands); NISRA (Northern Ireland); BerlinOnline GmbH; Landesamt für Bürger- und Ordnungsangelegenheiten (LABO) / Standesämter (Berlin); Ministerstwo Cyfryzacji, rejestr PESEL (dane.gov.pl) (Poland); Ministarstvo pravosuđa, uprave i digitalne transformacije (Matica rođenih) (Croatia); Stadt Leipzig, Standesamt (opendata.leipzig.de) (Leipzig). How we count, and every source

About the name

Iris comes from Ancient Greek Ἶρις, 'rainbow'. In Greek mythology Iris is the goddess of the rainbow.

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Two syllables, EYE-ris, give it a clear, crisp sound. Íris and Írisz are accented spellings, and Iiris and Iryda are forms in other languages.

Iris ranks high in France and Sweden and is used in Croatia, and in the English-speaking world it appears in England and Wales, Ontario and New Zealand. The French records show it reaching its peak in 2025, and it is rising in 11 places while falling in only two, so it is a name with clear momentum.

Meaning, origin, pronunciation

Pronounced
EYE-ris, 2 syllables
Meaning
rainbow
Origin
Greek
Other spellings
  • Iiris
  • Iryda
  • Īrisa
  • Írisz

Counted together here: Íris.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Ἶρις (Îris, “rainbow”).

From the Wiktionary entry, CC BY-SA 4.0, shortened.

Over time

Over five years: rising in 11 of 21 regions, falling in 2.

Show the yearsShow less

Rank in each place since 1996; higher on the chart is more popular.

France 248th 1996 to 11th 2025
1st10th100th1000th10000th19962025
Sweden 227th 1998 to 19th 2025
1st10th100th1000th10000th19962025
Italy 160th 1999 to 55th 2024
1st10th100th1000th10000th19962025
England and Wales 1914th 1996 to 57th 2025
1st10th100th1000th10000th19962025
Catalonia 66th 1997 to 69th 2025
1st10th100th1000th10000th19962025
Ontario 718th 1996 to 75th 2024
1st10th100th1000th10000th19962025

Ten years of ranks

Her rank each year, English-speaking regions first. A blank means no published rank for her that year.

Region2016201720182019202020212022202320242025
England and Wales84818281777066616157
Scotland199174126129115121116168138116
Northern Ireland306355273263333350218151192334
Ireland359241336221160184195137120141
Ontario13615411611114387896875
British Columbia1461611339996102120156
South Australia230164
New Zealand100869079
Quebec245294184173194179212116218171
France86513430251818181711
The Netherlands851099988109140123186173
Austria215204240186201210222164183171
Switzerland21313613513514895110948399
Berlin498379550435320361332339
Munich178258157172101124
Rostock283174
Norway110133110928291828476100
Sweden30282622272324212519
Iceland3223
Spain737573877971696466
Catalonia56476157565664625569
Italy1009087777669746555
Poland463400574507408616516495435706
Slovenia85787186888712212410981
Croatia343642
Israel928894833

England and Wales, 1996 to 2025

YearRankGirlsper 100,000 girls
202557759299.7
202461707274.0
202361741288.8
202266762289.2
202170746272.2
202077703261.9
201981658235.0
201882634219.9
201781654218.7
201684648211.0
2015102558181.2
2014108522170.2
2013106505163.7
2012122476147.8
2011147376117.0
201016731698.4
200919526484.2
200820525179.5
200722222974.8
200632513444.8
200536111038.2
200434011339.5
20034128731.2
20024936122.8
20017103513.1
20001195165.9
19991473124.3
19981480124.1
19971234155.1
1996191482.7

Sources: Office for National Statistics (1996-2025), OGL v3.

France since 1925

Half of the babies named Iris in France since 1925 were born in or after 2019. First recorded in 1925. Her peak year there: 2025, at 735.7 per 100,000 girls.

05001,0001940196019802000202005001,00019602000

Babies named Iris per 100,000 girls born in France, by five-year period.

Sources: INSEE, Fichier des prénoms (édition 2025) (1900-2025), Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0.

Sister names for Iris

  1. 1 in 471 in Scotland

  2. 1 in 852 in Scotland

  3. 1 in 993 in England and Wales

  4. 1 in 571 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 754 in Ireland

  6. 1 in 1,041 in Northern Ireland

  7. 1 in 587 in Ireland

  8. 1 in 307 in England and Wales

  9. 1 in 1,266 in England and Wales

  10. 1 in 560 in Northern Ireland

All sister names for IrisDeal more sisters

Middle names for Iris

  1. 1 in 71 in Scotland

  2. 1 in 78 in Northern Ireland

  3. 1 in 57 in Northern Ireland

  4. 1 in 311 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 88 in Scotland

  6. 1 in 162 in England and Wales

  7. 1 in 214 in Northern Ireland

  8. 1 in 325 in Ireland

All middle names for IrisDeal more middle names

Same style as Iris

Names whose popularity rose and fell with hers across regions and decades.

  1. 1 in 260 in Northern Ireland

  2. 1 in 1,193 in Scotland

  3. 1 in 754 in Ireland

  4. 1 in 491 in Ireland

  5. 1 in 577 in Scotland

  6. 1 in 571 in Ireland

  7. 1 in 166 in Northern Ireland

  8. 1 in 228 in Northern Ireland

Deal more in this style

Famous people named Iris

Iris Murdoch, Iris Mittenaere, Iris Apfel, Iris Chang, Iris Apatow, Iris Berben, Iris Marion Young and Iris Adrian.

Show all 8Show less

People: Wikidata (CC0), linked to Wikipedia in this page's language when an article exists.

Questions about Iris

5 questions, on how popular she is, what it means, how to say it, whether she is rising and sister names.

Show all 5 questionsShow less
How popular is Iris?

Her best rank is No. 11 in France in 2025, about 1 in 136 girls. She is in the published lists of 23 of our 40 regions.

What does Iris mean?

Wiktionary glosses Iris as "rainbow".

How do you pronounce Iris?

EYE-ris, with 2 syllables.

Is Iris getting more popular?

Over five years: rising in 11 of 21 regions, falling in 2.

Which sister names go with Iris?

The deck's top five sisters for Iris: Elena, Lena, Maia, Sara and Helena. Each is scored on style, era, popularity and origin, with sound clashes flagged.

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