Given name & surname · also Scottish
Irving
“a triend of the sea”
Irving is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “a triend of the sea.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “a triend of the sea.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Scottish.
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
Irving through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 44,449
- 44,364 boys · 85 girls
- Most popular year
- 1918
- 1,538 babies
- 2025
- 90
- #1,783 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −20%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 90 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 1,783 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 20.3% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 1,533 in 1918. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (23). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 14,717 as a first name in 2020; 14,329 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.
Irving’s family of names
Irving has a related form in Irvin. In English usage, Irving has a conventional equivalent in the German form Erwin. Irving has a related form in Irvine.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 8
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 3
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
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 Irving
- Irving LangmuirAmerican chemist and physicist (1881–1957)
- Irving BerlinAmerican composer and lyricist (1888–1989)
- Irving ThalbergAmerican film producer (1899-1936)
- Irving FisherAmerican economist and statistician (1867–1947)
- Irving StoneAmerican writer (1903–1989)
- Irving SaladinoPanamanian long jumperborn 1983
- Irving PennAmerican photographer and photojournalist (1917–2009)
- Irving BaxterAmerican athletics competitor (born 1876)
- Irving Cummingsactor, film director (1888–1959)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Irving, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Orrin
“from the river”
>99% boys
Mervin
“a friend of the sea”
>99% boys
Clarence
“from the Clare river”
>99% boys
Early
“daughter born prematurely” · “one who is punctual”
>99% boys
Wilton
“from the town on the river”
>99% boys
Hurley
“a healthy woman” · “of the sea tide”
96% boys · 4% girls
Ervin
“friend of the sea”
>99% boys
Orin
“a dark-haired beauty”
99% boys · 1% girls