Irving

Irving: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“green river; sea friend uncertain”
Origin
Scottish
Say it
UR-ving · 2 syllables
Used for
Boys

From a Scottish surname derived from a place name. Its exact origin is uncertain; proposed explanations include a river name and Brittonic elements meaning 'green water.' The origin of this name is not settled among etymologists.

How popular is Irving?

202432.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Irving in 2024105

2024 rank#1,613 boys

Peak year1912

Total US babies since 188044,358

Irving is steady now but far below its 1912 peak.

Names like Irving

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • Irvingreen water · Scottish Gaelic

Irving questions

What does the name Irving mean?

Irving means "green river; sea friend uncertain". It comes from Scottish. From a Scottish surname derived from a place name. Its exact origin is uncertain; proposed explanations include a river name and Brittonic elements meaning 'green water.'

Is Irving a boy or girl name?

Irving is mainly a boy's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Irving?

105 US babies were named Irving in 2024. Its peak year was 1912.

How do you pronounce Irving?

Irving is usually pronounced UR-ving.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.