How Many People Are Named Irene Cara?
There are approximately 1 people named Irene Cara living in the United States today. That makes this name combination very rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 342,754,338 Americans.
This estimate combines SSA birth records for the first name Irene with Census Bureau frequency data for the surname Cara. Below you will find a breakdown of both names, including popularity trends, gender data, and Census background data where it is available.
Estimated People with This Name
1
1 in 342,754,338 Americans
Combination Rarity
Very Rare
First Name
View full profileIrene
Last Name
View full profileCara
Irene: Popularity Over Time
Year-by-year SSA birth registrations for the first name Irene. The peak year was 1921 with 10,657 births. The average person named Irene today is 60 years old.
Ancestry of the First Name Irene
In the 2020 Census, the first name Irene was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (51.42%). The next largest recorded groups were Hispanic (30.22%) and Asian and Pacific Islander (8.28%).
These percentages describe the people who had the first name Irene in the 2020 Census. They do not tell you the deeper origin or meaning of the name itself.
Read this as a snapshot of who already had the name in 2020, not as a trend line. The SSA chart above is still the better way to see how Irene rose or fell over time.
Ancestry of the Cara Surname
The surname Cara was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White in the 2020 Census.
This is a self-reported race and ethnicity breakdown for people who had the surname Cara in the published Census surname tables. It gives useful context around who was recorded with the name, but it does not tell the full family history of every Boone line.
How we calculated this
The first name "Irene" has an estimated frequency of 0.0253% among living Americans, based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024 adjusted for mortality using CDC 2023 life tables.
The surname "Cara" appears at a rate of 0.23 per 100,000 people in the 2020 U.S. Census.
We do not use the Census first-name snapshot for the main estimate because it is only published once every 10 years. The latest public first-name Census file is from 2020, which is already 6 years old. SSA birth records plus CDC survival data give a better current estimate of how many people with the first name Irene are likely to be alive now.
Multiplying these frequencies against the U.S. population of ~343 million gives 1 estimated people. This assumes first names and last names are statistically independent. Full methodology.
Other people named Irene
Other people with the surname Cara
Irene Cara: Questions and Answers
How many people are named Irene Cara?
We estimate approximately 1 people named Irene Cara are alive in the United States today. The first name Irene is shared by 86,627 Americans, and the surname Cara is shared by 788.
How rare is the name Irene Cara?
This name combination is classified as Very Rare, occurring at a rate of about 1 in 342,754,338 Americans. The first name Irene is uncommon and the surname Cara is very rare.
Is Irene a male or female name?
Irene is predominantly female, with 0.4% of bearers being male and 99.6% female. It peaked in popularity in 1921 and the average bearer today is 60 years old.
What does the Census say about the first name Irene?
In the 2020 Census, the first name Irene was most commonly recorded among people who identified as White (51.42%). The next largest recorded groups were Hispanic (30.22%) and Asian and Pacific Islander (8.28%). These percentages describe the people who had the name in the 2020 Census, not the deeper origin of the name itself.
Where does this data come from?
First name data comes from the Social Security Administration (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables. When available, first-name Census background data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau first-name tables. Surname data comes from the 2020 U.S. Census Bureau. Full methodology.
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