Iris (given name)
Encyclopedia
Iris is a feminine given name derived from the Greek
Ιρις, meaning "rainbow
." Iris
was the Greek
goddess of the rainbow. The word is also used to refer to the iris
, a part of the eye
, and to the genus of flower called the iris.
Iris was the 15th most popular name for baby girls born in the Netherlands
in 2007, was the 221st most popular name given to baby girls in England
and Wales
in 2007 and was the 315th most popular name given to baby girls born in the United States
in 2007. It has ranked in the top 100 names given to baby girls in Slovenia
and in Catalonia
during the past decade. Iris may refer to:
Greek language
Greek is an independent branch of the Indo-European family of languages. Native to the southern Balkans, it has the longest documented history of any Indo-European language, spanning 34 centuries of written records. Its writing system has been the Greek alphabet for the majority of its history;...
Ιρις, meaning "rainbow
Rainbow
A rainbow is an optical and meteorological phenomenon that causes a spectrum of light to appear in the sky when the Sun shines on to droplets of moisture in the Earth's atmosphere. It takes the form of a multicoloured arc...
." Iris
Iris (mythology)
In Greek mythology, Iris is the personification of the rainbow and messenger of the gods. As the sun unites Earth and heaven, Iris links the gods to humanity...
was the Greek
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
goddess of the rainbow. The word is also used to refer to the iris
Iris (anatomy)
The iris is a thin, circular structure in the eye, responsible for controlling the diameter and size of the pupils and thus the amount of light reaching the retina. "Eye color" is the color of the iris, which can be green, blue, or brown. In some cases it can be hazel , grey, violet, or even pink...
, a part of the eye
Human eye
The human eye is an organ which reacts to light for several purposes. As a conscious sense organ, the eye allows vision. Rod and cone cells in the retina allow conscious light perception and vision including color differentiation and the perception of depth...
, and to the genus of flower called the iris.
Iris was the 15th most popular name for baby girls born in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
in 2007, was the 221st most popular name given to baby girls in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
in 2007 and was the 315th most popular name given to baby girls born in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in 2007. It has ranked in the top 100 names given to baby girls in Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
and in Catalonia
Catalonia
Catalonia is an autonomous community in northeastern Spain, with the official status of a "nationality" of Spain. Catalonia comprises four provinces: Barcelona, Girona, Lleida, and Tarragona. Its capital and largest city is Barcelona. Catalonia covers an area of 32,114 km² and has an...
during the past decade. Iris may refer to:
People
- Iris AdrianIris AdrianIris Adrian was an American film actress.-Life and career:Born in Los Angeles, California as Iris Hostetter, Adrian won a beauty pageant and worked with the Ziegfeld Follies, before she entered films at the end of the silent era in Chasing Husbands and appeared as an extra or chorus girl in early...
(1912-1994), American actress - Iris von ArnimIris von ArnimIris von Arnim is an internationally acclaimed German fashion designer.Her career began in the early 1970s when she began knitting while recovering in a hospital from a car accident. In 1976 she opened a small boutique in Munich, and debuted her collection at the CPD fashion fair in Düsseldorf...
(born 1945), German fashion designer - Iris BarryIris BarryIris Barry was the founder of the film department of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City in 1935. Barry was a film critic, and an early proponent of relating cinema to sociology, mythology, and genre....
(1895-1969), American film critic - Iris BerbenIris BerbenIris Berben is a German actress. She grew up in Hamburg, where her parents ran a restaurant....
(born 1950), German actress - Iris ChacónIris ChacónIris Chacón is a dancer, singer, and entertainer. She enjoys great popularity in Puerto Rico and in other Latin American countries, as well as such US locales as New York, Miami, and Los Angeles.-Career:Chacon has been known by various nicknames, such as "La Bomba de Puerto Rico" Iris Chacón...
(born 1950), Puerto Rican entertainer - Iris ChangIris ChangIris Shun-Ru Chang was an American historian and journalist. She is best known for her best-selling 1997 account of the Nanking Massacre, The Rape of Nanking. She committed suicide on November 9, 2004...
(1968-2004), American historian - Iris DeMentIris DeMentIris DeMent is an American singer and songwriter. DeMent's musical style encompasses the genres country and folk music.-Early life:...
(born 1961), American singer - Iris Habib ElmasryIris Habib ElmasryIris Habib Elmasry was a prominent Coptic Historian .-Biography:Iris Habib Elmasry was born into a righteous Coptic family 1910, Her family name Elmasry in Arabic language means The Egyptian....
(1910-1994), Egyptian historian - Iris EvansIris EvansIris Evans is a Member of the Legislative Assembly of Alberta and is Minister of International and Intergovernmental Relations for the Canadian province. From November 25, 2004 to December 15, 2006 she served as Alberta's Minister of Health and Wellness in Premier Ralph Klein's cabinet...
(born 1942), Canadian politician - Iris GowerIris GowerIris Davies was a novelist, noted for her many historical romances, most of which are set in the British seaport of Swansea and the Gower Peninsula, from which she took her nom-de-plume.-Biography:...
(born 1939), Welsh novelist - Iris HäusslerIris HäusslerIris Häussler is a conceptual- and installation art artist of German origin. She lives in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Many of Iris Häussler's works are detailed, hyperrealistic installations that visitors can decode as narrative stories...
(born 1962), German artist - Iris JohansenIris JohansenIris Johansen is an American author of crime fiction and romance novels.-Biography:Johansen began writing after her children left home for college. She first achieved success in the early 1980s writing category romances. In 1991, Johansen began writing suspense historical romance novels,...
(born 1938), American author - Iris KyleIris KyleIris Kyle is an American professional female bodybuilding champion.-Early life and education:"Iris Kyle" was born in 1974 in Benton Harbor, Michigan,the fifth of six children. Her early athletic endeavors included running cross country, basketball , and softball...
(born 1974), American bodybuilder - Iris MeredithIris MeredithIris Meredith was a B-movie actress of the 1930s and 1940s film era. She starred mostly in heroine roles, in westerns....
(1915-1980), American actress - Iris MurdochIris MurdochDame Iris Murdoch DBE was an Irish-born British author and philosopher, best known for her novels about political and social questions of good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious...
(1919-1999), British novelist - Iris Ovshinsky (1927-2006), American businesswoman
- Iris RobinsonIris RobinsonIris Robinson is a former Northern Ireland Unionist politician. She is married to Peter Robinson, who is currently the First Minister in the Northern Ireland Assembly....
(born 1949), Northern Irish politician - Iris YamashitaIris YamashitaIris Yamashita is a Japanese-American screenwriter.She was hired by Clint Eastwood to write the Japanese side of the story of the Battle of Iwo Jima, once rumored to be titled Lamps Before the Wind, then called Red Sun, Black Sand, before being released as Letters from Iwo Jima...
(born 1966), American screenwriter - Iris Marion YoungIris Marion YoungIris Marion Young was Professor of Political Science at the University of Chicago, and affiliated with the Center for Gender Studies and the Human Rights program there...
(1949-2006), American political scientist - Iris Yim, (1983-?), Chinese Geologist