Iris

Where Iris comes from

From Ancient Greek Ἶρις (Îris, “rainbow”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Iris
  • Ancient Greek
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #518 among girls — 11 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1919
    Iris Murdoch born
    Irish-born British writer and philosopher
  3. 1993
    Iris Mittenaere born
    French beauty pageant winner
  4. 2025
    Peak, #61
    3,729 babies named Iris — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Ancient Greek; a flower name used since the end of the 19th century.
Namesakes
  • Iris Murdoch · Irish-born British writer and philosopher, 1919–1999
  • Iris Mittenaere · French beauty pageant winner, born 1993
  • Iris Apfel · American interior designer and fashion icon, 1921–2024
  • Iris Chang · Chinese-American journalist and author of historical books, 1968–2004
  • Iris Apatow · American actress, born 2002

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.