Given name & surname · also German, Hungarian
Imre
“one who is innocent”·“ruler of the home”·“of my words”
Imre is used as a given name and a surname. Interpretations include “one who is innocent”, “ruler of the home”, and “of my words”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Original GermanEmmerich
Meaning & origin
What it means
Interpretations include “one who is innocent”, “ruler of the home”, and “of my words”. These belong to different or overlapping naming contexts.
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Germanic.
How it developed
In Serbo-Croatian usage, Imre developed from Emmerich.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1958. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Imre through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 188
- 188 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2023
- 12 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #10,074 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +29%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,074 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 602 as a first name in 2020; 212 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Imre’s family of names
In Hungarian usage, Imre has a diminutive in IMI. In Serbo-Croatian usage, Imre developed from the German form Emmerich. Imre is a form of Emeric.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Imre has relatives in 4 languages. Lines run from its Hebrew roots to each of them.
6 related names in 4 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 11
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Imridiminutive · Hungarian
- Imidiminutive · Hungarian
- Imrievariant
- Imraevariant
- Imraivariant
- Imrayevariant
- Imreavariant
- Imreevariant
Show 3 moreShow fewer
Across languages 17
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Imre
- Imre KertészHungarian author (1929–2016)
- Imre NagyHungarian politician (1896-1958)
- Imre LakatosHungarian philosopher of mathematics and science (1922-1974)
- Emeric, King of HungaryHungarian king (1174-1204)
- Emmerich KálmánHungarian-born composer of operettas (1882–1953)
- Emeric ThökölyRuler of Transylvania (1657-1705)
- Imre MadáchHungarian writer (1823-1864)
- Imre SchlosserHungarian association football player (1889–1959)
- Saint Emeric of Hungaryson of King St. Stephen I of Hungary and Giselle of Bavaria.1000–1031
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Imre, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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