🔥Ira

EYE-ruh; EER-uh

Hebrew, Sanskrit

"watchful one; wind"

Ira Origin and Meaning

The name Ira is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "watchful one; wind".

Succinct and sharp, Ira is one of the shortest Old Testament names, belonging to one of King David's thirty 'mighty warriors.' It was widely used in the US from the 1880s to the early 1930s (it was Number 57 on the Social Security list in 1881), but fell off completely in 1993, only to return in 2016. Currently, it is in the latter half of the US Top 1000, given to around 260 boys each year.

Beyond its Hebrew origins, Ira is also a unisex Sanskrit and Hindi name. Literally meaning "wind" in Sanskrit, it is the name of the wind-god in Hinduism. Elsewhere, it is used as a feminine name, a short form of Russian Irina, a Basque nature name, and Sanskrit choice meaning "earth".

Although Ira is a retirement-account acronym in the US, it's back on the table for those seeking a short biblical name for their sons. A musical namesake is lyricist Ira Gershwin (born Israel), a literary one is Ira Levin, while Ira Sachs is a film director. There are also two prominent Iras hosting NPR radio shows.

Across the pond in the UK, however, Ira likely receives less use currently as the initials IRA are associated with the Irish Republican Army, which could make it feel like a political choice.

Ira Rank in US Top 1000

# 880 in the US

Ira Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 173 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Ira

• 880 US 2023
• 173 Nameberry 2025
• 139 Unisex 2023
• 653 Future 2028

20 Names Similar to Ira

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Ira.

• Bram
• Ansel
• Ewan
• Rafferty
• Orson
• Cormac
• Darcy
• Asa
• Roscoe
• Dashiell
• Finnian
• Boaz
• Laszlo
• Amos
• Seamus
• Sinclair
• Rafe
• Fraser
• Hamish
• Leif

Famous People Named Ira

• Ira Khan Daughter of Indian Actor Aamir Khan
• Ira Marvin Levin American novelist
• Ira Frederick Aldridge American Shakespearean actor
• Ira Allen American revolutionary of the Green Mountain Boys, brother of Ethan Allen, founder of Vermont
• Israel "Ira" Gershwin American lyricist
• Ira Jeffrey Glass American NPR radio presenter and journalist
• Ira Flatow American radio presenter
• Ira Hamilton Hayes U.S. Marine in the photo of the flag raising on Iwo Jima
• Ira Louvin (born Ira Lonnie Loudermilk) American country singer of the Louvin Brothers
• Ira Wells Wood U.S. Congressman from New Jersey
• Ira Allen Eastman U.S. Congressman from New Hampshire
• Ira Clifton Copley American publisher and Congressman from Illinois
• Ira David Sankey American gospel singer
• Ira Kaplan American lead singer of band Yo La Tengo
• Ira Wood American actor
• Russell Ira Crowe Australian actor
• John Ira Shepherd Hanson (b. 2008) son of American musician Zac Hanson

The name Ira in Pop Culture

• Ira Silverberg father of Norah in book/film "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"
• Ira Buckman character on TV's "Mad About You"
• Ira Kane character in movie "Evolution"
• Ira Lee "Tripp" Williams character on TV's "Living Single"
• Ira Rosso character in '10 Kids, No Pets', by Ann M Martin
• Ira one of the Castor clones on TV's "Orphan Black"
• Ira Gaines character on TV's "24"
• Ira Goldstein ASB Bank ad character in New Zealand
• Ira Hogeboom character in the video game L.A. Noire
• Ira Wright character in the 2009 film "Funny People"
• IRA Acronym for Irish Republican Army, a dissident republican group
• 'Ira' is also Latin for wrath one of the seven deadly sins
• Ira Levinson character from 'the longest ride', book and film