Irving

Scottish

"green river, sea friend"

Irving Origin and Meaning

The name Irving is a boy's name of Scottish origin meaning "green river, sea friend".

It might be surprising to know that this name originated as a Scottish place and surname name, as in Washington Irving. It became a popular choice for first-generation Jewish-American boys, such as best-selling authors Irving Stone and Irving Wallace, whose parents looked to surnames from the British Isles to confer a measure of assimilation and class.

Irving Berlin changed his name from Israel; actor Ving Rhames streamlined and coolized it. Irving was a Top 100 name during World War I, and though we don't envision it reaching those heights again, we can see some hipster parents having their own little Ving.

Irving Rank in US Top 1000

# 985 in the US

Irving Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 521 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Irving

• 521 Nameberry 2025
• 716 Unique 2023

20 Names Similar to Irving

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

• Gulliver
• Fergus
• Laurie
• Fritz
• Abner
• Boaz
• Sinclair
• Bram
• Clive
• Fraser
• Woodrow
• Lars
• Clancy
• Orville
• Fitzgerald
• Hal
• Humphrey
• Willoughby
• Morris
• Elmer

Famous People Named Irving

• Irving Berlin (born Israel Isidore Baline) American composer
• Irving Grant Thalberg American film producer
• Washington Irving American author
• Irving Rameses "Ving" Rhames American actor
• Irving Lester Janis American research psychologist
• Irving Mills (born Isadore Minsky) American jazz publisher and musician
• Irving Caesar (born Isidor Keiser) American lyricist
• Irving Langmuir American Nobel Prize,winning chemist
• Irving Fisher American economist

The name Irving in Pop Culture

• Irving "Irv" Harper character on TV's "Everwood"
• Lloyd Irving main character of video game "Tales of Symphonia"
• Irving Hillman character in newspaper comic strip "Cathy"
• Irving Beaks a character from the Nickelodeon cartoon "Harvey Beaks"
• Irving character mentioned in the movie "Chicago," during the "Cell Block Tango" number
• Irving Burnside Jon Arbuckle's next door neighbor in the cartoon show "Garfield and Friends"

International Variations of the name Irving

• Inek Welsh