Given name & surname
Ireland
“one who pays homage to Ireland”
Ireland is used as a given name and a surname. One American interpretation is “one who pays homage to Ireland.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One American interpretation is “one who pays homage to Ireland.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is American.
How it developed
From Old Irish Ériu, from Proto-Celtic *Φīweriyū, from Proto-Celtic *ɸīweriyū.
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1914. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ireland through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 6,556
- 209 boys · 6,347 girls
- Most popular year
- 2009
- 353 babies
- 2025
- 83
- #2,224 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −41%
- Cooling
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 83 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 2,224 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 40.8% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 345 in 2009. In 2025, Arizona had the largest reported state-level birth count for girls with this name (8). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 5,437 as a first name in 2020; 14,401 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.
Ireland’s family of names
Ireland has a short form in Greta. In English usage, Ireland has a related form in Tory.
The ring: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 3
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
People named Ireland
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
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