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🔥Ira

Heart
Hebrew
"watchful one"

Ira Origin and Meaning

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

Ira is one of the shortest, non-biblical sounding 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. Although Ira is also a retirement-account acronym, it's back on the table for those seeking a short biblical name for their sons, and reentered the US Top 1000 in 2016. A musical namesake is lyricist Ira Gershwin (born Israel), a literary one is Ira Levin, and there are two prominent Iras hosting NPR radio shows.

# 844 in the US

Ira Rank in US Top 1000

# 147 on Nameberry

Ira Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Ira Popularity

20 Names Similar to Ira

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

Famous People Named Ira

  • Ira KhanDaughter of Indian Actor Aamir Khan
  • Ira Marvin LevinAmerican novelist
  • Ira Frederick AldridgeAmerican Shakespearean actor
  • Ira AllenAmerican revolutionary of the Green Mountain Boys, brother of Ethan Allen, founder of Vermont
  • Israel "Ira" GershwinAmerican lyricist
  • Ira Jeffrey GlassAmerican NPR radio presenter and journalist
  • Ira FlatowAmerican radio presenter
  • Ira Hamilton HayesU.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 WoodU.S. Congressman from New Jersey
  • Ira Allen EastmanU.S. Congressman from New Hampshire
  • Ira Clifton CopleyAmerican publisher and Congressman from Illinois
  • Ira David SankeyAmerican gospel singer
  • Ira KaplanAmerican lead singer of band Yo La Tengo
  • Ira WoodAmerican actor
  • Russell Ira CroweAustralian actor
  • John Ira Shepherd Hanson (b. 2008)son of American musician Zac Hanson

Ira in Pop Culture

  • Ira Silverbergfather of Norah in book/film "Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"
  • Ira Buckmancharacter on TV's "Mad About You"
  • Ira Kanecharacter in movie "Evolution"
  • Ira Lee "Tripp" Williamscharacter on TV's "Living Single"
  • Ira Rossocharacter in '10 Kids, No Pets', by Ann M Martin
  • Iraone of the Castor clones on TV's "Orphan Black"
  • Ira Gainescharacter on TV's "24"
  • Ira GoldsteinASB Bank ad character in New Zealand
  • Ira Hogeboomcharacter in the video game L.A. Noire
  • Ira Wrightcharacter in the 2009 film "Funny People"
  • IRAAcronym for Irish Republican Army, a dissident republican group
  • 'Ira' is also Latin for wrathone of the seven deadly sins
  • Ira Levinsoncharacter from 'the longest ride', book and film