Irena

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Irena: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Irena: Recorded since 1947, it reached #256 in 1952, and it stood at #2,689 in 2023.

2registrars recorded it
58times a registrar ranked it
77years from first to last
#256highest recorded position
12groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 2000–2023

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
2000	#2416
2002	#3409
2006	#5061
2007	#5201
2009	#5556
2010	#3156
2011	#4764
2012	#4838
2013	#3536
2014	#5691
2016	#2547
2017	#2706
2018	#3178
2019	#5591
2020	#3899
2021	#3519
2022	#2673
2023	#2689

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in Norway in 40 of the 44 years from 1947 to 1990.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1947–2023 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1947
First recorded at #352 among girls in Norway in 1947 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
Norway · Girls
Highest recorded1947–1990
Highest recorded position: #256 among girls in Norway, in 1952 (recorded 1947–1990).
Norway · Girls
Most recent2023
Most recently recorded at #2689 among girls in England and Wales, in 2023.
England and Wales · Girls

Irena appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is Norway · Girls, which has ranked it in 40 years beginning in 1947, and has registered 305 births with the name.

Irena across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Irena's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
Norway · Girls	#352 (1947)	#256 (1952)	#656 (1990)	40 of 44	305 (1947–1990)	13 (1959)
England and Wales · Girls	#2416 (2000)	#2416 (2000)	#2689 (2023)	18 of 24	101 (2000–2023)	10 (2016)

Irena by decade in Norway · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Irena in Norway · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1940s	12	2 of 10	6
1950sbusiest	63	7 of 10	9
1960s	75	10 of 10	8
1970s	78	10 of 10	8
1980s	73	10 of 10	7
1990s	4	1 of 10	4

Across Norway · Girls, the 1950s were its busiest decade — the 7 years of it this list covers, averaging 9 births a year.

See the names Norwayhas recorded the most births with →

Irena appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1947 to 2023. Highest recorded position: #256 in Norway in 1952.

Irena's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2023	England and Wales	female	#2689	9	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#2673	9	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#3519	6	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#3899	5	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#5591	3	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#3178	7	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#2706	9	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#2547	10	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#5691	3	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#3536	6	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#4838	4	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#4764	4	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#3156	7	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#5556	3	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#5201	3	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#5061	3	High	Verified
2002	England and Wales	female	#3409	4	High	Verified
2000	England and Wales	female	#2416	6	High	Verified
1990	Norway	female	#656	4	High	Verified
1989	Norway	female	#534	7	High	Verified
1988	Norway	female	#571	6	High	Verified
1987	Norway	female	#564	6	High	Verified
1986	Norway	female	#471	8	High	Verified
1985	Norway	female	#661	4	High	Verified
1984	Norway	female	#502	7	High	Verified
1983	Norway	female	#442	8	High	Verified
1982	Norway	female	#395	10	High	Verified
1981	Norway	female	#583	5	High	Verified
1980	Norway	female	#338	12	High	Verified
1979	Norway	female	#635	4	High	Verified
1978	Norway	female	#508	6	High	Verified
1977	Norway	female	#459	7	High	Verified
1976	Norway	female	#426	8	High	Verified
1975	Norway	female	#463	7	High	Verified
1974	Norway	female	#338	12	High	Verified
1973	Norway	female	#449	7	High	Verified
1972	Norway	female	#367	10	High	Verified
1971	Norway	female	#449	7	High	Verified
1970	Norway	female	#350	10	High	Verified
1969	Norway	female	#408	7	High	Verified
1968	Norway	female	#501	5	High	Verified
1967	Norway	female	#422	7	High	Verified
1966	Norway	female	#314	11	High	Verified
1965	Norway	female	#285	13	High	Verified
1964	Norway	female	#470	5	High	Verified
1963	Norway	female	#422	6	High	Verified
1962	Norway	female	#408	6	High	Verified
1961	Norway	female	#321	9	High	Verified
1960	Norway	female	#406	6	High	Verified
1959	Norway	female	#257	13	High	Verified
1958	Norway	female	#280	11	High	Verified
1957	Norway	female	#318	8	High	Verified
1956	Norway	female	#326	8	High	Verified
1955	Norway	female	#355	7	High	Verified
1952	Norway	female	#256	12	High	Verified
1951	Norway	female	#395	4	High	Verified
1949	Norway	female	#341	6	High	Verified
1947	Norway	female	#352	6	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Norway hub — collected by Statistics Norway (SSB)

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1947 and 2023, ranked in 58 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #256, first reached in 1952.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 13 births, registered in Norway in 1959.

Its record falls into 9 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 9 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2000, and 53 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Iremide · #727, 14y
Iren · #104, 42y
Irene · #34, 81y
Ireneusz · #298, 26y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Roseanne · #250, 54y
Fadumo · #248, 57y
Abdi · #247, 60y
Lennart · #267, 61y

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1940 and 1949.

Jonn · #256, 19y
Jørund · #256, 57y
Gunda · #257, 10y
Krystyna · #255, 39y

Irena was ranked #256 in Norway · Girls in 1952. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Irena and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Irena without appearing here.

Irena moved ahead of

Kari Compare
In 2021 they stood at #5591 and #4686 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2022 that had become #2673 and #5669.
Finlay Compare
In 2009 they stood at #5556 and #4564 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2010 that had become #3156 and #5707.
Jayden Compare
In 2017 they stood at #3536 and #3536 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #3178 and #5666.
Kristy Compare
In 2017 they stood at #5691 and #4684 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #3178 and #5666.

Moved ahead of Irena

Beau Compare
In 2001 they stood at #2416 and #3247 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #3409 and #809.
Amalie Compare
In 2001 they stood at #2416 and #3912 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #3409 and #938.
Liv Compare
In 2001 they stood at #2416 and #3912 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2002 that had become #3409 and #2105.
Ellinor Compare
In 2018 they stood at #4838 and #5876 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2019 that had become #5591 and #4686.

Moved the opposite way to Irena

Anette Compare
Between 1947 and 1990 in Norway · Girls, Irena went from #352 to #656 while Anette went from #361 to #27.
Anita Compare
Between 1947 and 1990 in Norway · Girls, Irena went from #352 to #656 while Anita went from #136 to #72.
Anna Compare
Between 1947 and 1990 in Norway · Girls, Irena went from #352 to #656 while Anna went from #46 to #21.
Cecilie Compare
Between 1947 and 1990 in Norway · Girls, Irena went from #352 to #656 while Cecilie went from #264 to #40.

Moved the same way as Irena

Ada Compare
Between 1947 and 1990 in Norway · Girls, Irena went from #352 to #656 and Ada from #182 to #403.
Anne Compare
Between 1947 and 1990 in Norway · Girls, Irena went from #352 to #656 and Anne from #1 to #11.
Annie Compare
Between 1947 and 1990 in Norway · Girls, Irena went from #352 to #656 and Annie from #162 to #466.
Åse Compare
Between 1947 and 1990 in Norway · Girls, Irena went from #352 to #656 and Åse from #23 to #209.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1947 to 2023. Highest recorded position: #256 in Norway in 1952. Source data last verified 2026-07-25.

Irena

Irena at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Irena across 2 official records

Irena by decade in Norway · Girls

Irena appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Names published alongside Irena

Irena and the names beside it

Irena moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Irena

Moved the opposite way to Irena

Moved the same way as Irena

Irena at a glance

Irena across 2 official records

Irena by decade in Norway · Girls

Irena appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1940s

Names published alongside Irena

Irena and the names beside it

Irena moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Irena

Moved the opposite way to Irena

Moved the same way as Irena