Given name & surname · also Spanish
Inez
“one who is pure; chaste”
Inez is a variant of Ines. In Spanish use, Ines carries the interpretation “one who is pure; chaste.”
Original SpanishInés
Meaning & origin
What it means
Inez is a variant of Ines. In Spanish use, Ines carries the interpretation “one who is pure; chaste.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
Inez comes from Spanish, and ultimately from Ancient Greek.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
How it developed
In English usage, Inez developed from Agnes. In Swedish usage, Inez developed from Inés.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Inez through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 69,308
- 955 boys · 68,353 girls
- Most popular year
- 1920
- 2,131 babies
- 2025
- 156
- #1,400 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +62%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 156 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 1,400 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 63.5% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 2,107 in 1920. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (34). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 16,321 as a first name in 2020; 255 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.
Inez’s family of names
In English usage, Inez developed from the Latin form Agnes. In Swedish usage, Inez has an alternative spelling in Ines. In English usage, Inez shares an earlier linguistic root with Agnes.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Inez has relatives in 11 languages. Lines run from its Ancient Greek roots to each of them.
Ancient Greekwhere Inez comes from · 1 name
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 8
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Inez
- Inez Milholland(1886-1916) American suffragist, lawyer
- Inez FungAmerican climatologist (born 1949)
- Inez Clare VerdoornSouth African botanist (1896-1989)
- Inez Haynes IrwinFeminist, author, journalist1873–1970
- Inez TurnerJamaican athletics competitor (born 1972)
- Inez CourtneyAmerican actress (1908-1975)
- Inez BensusanAustralian-British Jewish suffragette1871–1967
- Inez Bjørg DavidGerman actressborn 1982
- Inez AndrewsAmerican gospel singer (1929–2012)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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