Given name & surname
Inger
“one who is fertile”
Inger is used as a given name and a surname. One Scandinavian interpretation is “one who is fertile.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Scandinavian interpretation is “one who is fertile.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Scandinavian.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1888. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Inger through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,372
- 0 boys · 1,372 girls
- Most popular year
- 1966
- 118 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 5 in 1986. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for girls was 118 in 1966. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,660 as a first name in 2020; 224 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.
Inger’s family of names
Inger has a related form in Ingrid. Inger is a form of Ingrid. In Swedish usage, Inger has a conventional equivalent in the German form Ingrid.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 4
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Across languages 3
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 Inger
- Inger Christensenpoet, novelist, essayist, editor (1935-2009)
- Inger NilssonSwedish actress and singerborn 1959
- Inger StevensSwedish-American actress (1934–1970)
- Inger MillerAmerican athletics competitor (born 1972)
- Inger JacobsenNorwegian singer (1923–1996)
- Inger BerggrenSwedish singer (1934–2019)
- Inger StøjbergDanish politician (born 1973)
- Inger AndersenDanish economist and environmentalistborn 1958
- Inger Auflescross-country skierborn 1941
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Inger, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Kare
“an enormous man”
>99% girls
Nissa
“a friendly elf” · “one who tests others”
>99% girls
Ikea
“having smooth skin”
2% boys · 98% girls
Gala
“a merrymaker; of the festive party” · “a singer”
>99% girls
Norna
>99% girls
Tora
“thunder”
>99% girls
Marita
“star of the sea” · “from the sea of bitterness”
>99% girls
Kari
“of the wind” · “one with curly hair”
20% boys · 80% girls