How Many People Are Named Iona?
An estimated 2,989 people in the United States have the first name Iona. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 48 years old, and Iona peaked in popularity in 1918 with 404 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Iona as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Iona paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
2,989
About 1 in 114,672 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
99.9% confidence
Average Age
48
years old
Peak Year
1918
404 births
Total Registered
12,196
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Iona
Iona is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 12,196 total births registered, 99.9% were female.
Iona as a male name
Ranked #12,974 in 2024
5 male births in 2024
Peak: 2008 (5 births)
Iona as a female name
Ranked #2,777 in 2024
61 female births in 2024
Peak: 1918 (404 births)
Iona: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Iona span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 3,151 babies were registered. Iona has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Iona by Decade
How has Iona tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Iona by State
Birth registrations for Iona span all 40 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Illinois, Ohio, Pennsylvania. The lowest are in Wyoming, Oregon, Montana. On average, about 165 Ionas were registered per state.
Iona + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Iona as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Iona
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
Iona: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iona?
We estimate approximately 2,989 people named Iona are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 114,672 Americans share this first name.
Is Iona a common name?
Iona is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 95.2% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 12,196 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Iona most popular?
Iona reached peak popularity in 1918, when 404 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Iona is approximately 48 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Iona a female name?
Iona is predominantly female. 99.9% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Iona Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Iona Smith, Iona Johnson, Iona Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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