Comments for the name Irene

The older pronunciation (still used to some extent in England, I believe) is ie-REE-nee.

My great aunt Irene pronounced it i-REE-nee.

Irene was the baptismal name of Arlene Dietrich.

A famous bearer of this name is Princess Irene of Lippe-Biesterfeld. She is the sister of queen Beatrix of the Netherlands.

In Portuguese this name is pronounced "EE-rehn".

A famous bearer is Irene Cara.

I think it is a beautiful name with a pretty sound and a good meaning. Peace is a very important matter for anyone now, whether it is a peaceful world or a peace in each person's mind.

Irene is a very pretty name. I like what it means and it sounds soft, classy and mysterious yet simple.

Pronounced ee-RAY-nuh in Germany. [noted -ed]

Irene de Todos los Santos Urdangarín y de Borbón is the name of the fourth child of Princess Cristina of Spain and her husband Iñaki Urdangarín.

Listen to the German pronunciation of Irene here:
http://www.nordicnames.de/Aussprache.html.

I've heard it pronounced "ee-RAY-nay" in the 1995 film "Mi Familia".

My grandma has this name. In Spanish, I've only heard it pronounced as EE-re-ne.

I have only heard it pronounced IE-reen. I don't particularly like this name. The only thing that is okay about this name is the nickname Reenie.

I love Irene for a middle name.

This name RULES!

Irene Van Dyk is a 6 foot goal shooter who plays for the Silver Ferns (New Zealand netball team.) She was a South African who moved to New Zealand. She is very good at Netball. :)

Irene (pronounced Ie-REE-nee) Worth was a British actress.

Irene was the sister of Alexandra Feodorovna, the last tsaritsa of Russia.

This is my mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother's middle name, and my mom hates it. I think it's an okay name, just not one of my favorites. I'm just glad it's not my middle name!

I think Irene is an all-time-classic and pretty name, especially when pronounced AI-REEN. Interesting combinations; Grace-Irene, Brenda-Irene, Martha-Irene.

The infamous title 'character' in the song known as either "Irene, Goodnight" or "Goodnight Irene," an old folk standard.

Also used in Ireland.

Name of the day on March 23, 2008.

This name is crap in English, but sounds nice in other languages. In English, it sounds like the name of a dim-witted country girl. I would suggest English-speakers to leave the name alone, but in other languages, it sounds quite pretty, and nicely mature as well.

I personally see nothing wrong with this name. It's not my favorite in the universe, but it's pretty.

My name is Irene (pronounced in Spanish, Ee-REH-neh or something like this) and I think it's absolutely classy, beautiful and elegant. Unfortunately is very common nowadays in Spain, but yet, it's so beautiful. And I don't like the English pronunciation at all!

Everything about this name is wonderful. The pronunciation, the spelling, the usage. I love it. It's not boring, either.

Irene (pronounced Ie-REE-nee) Handl (1901-87) was a British actress of Austrian and French parentage. She was a wonderful comedic presence in lots of films from the 1950s and 1960s that still occasionally appear on British television.
The pronunciation of Irene of her generation (reflected in the character Irene Heron in Galsworthy's "The Forsyte Saga" in the BBC television series of the late 1960s) is seldom if ever heard in Britain anymore.

I pronounce it I-ree-nee, and I love it!

This is my middle name and both of my grandmothers' names. I was literally destined to have this name. I guess it goes well with my first name (which is Deana), but I particularly don't care for it.

I don't know why people like this name so much. It's not a bad name and the meaning is nice enough, but it's very old fashioned. I mean, have you ever come across a pretty young girl with a name like Irene, Sheila or Margaret?

I think it is a beautiful, reserved name, and is well-suited to my favourite [and only] mam-gu. A peaceful, contented, happy sort of name, and one that is quite nice when shortened to 'Reney' [Pronounced REENEE].

Terrible in English-speaking languages.

I have loved the name Irene since I first saw the film "Gattaca." Until then I thought Irene was an old-lady's name, but the name seemed really fresh and elegant on Uma Thurman's character in the movie.

I've only known one person my age (born in the early 1970s) named Irene. She was named after a grandmother but seemed so cool when we were in college that I had positive associations with it. Then there's Irene Adler, the only woman ever to best Sherlock Holmes, and the fact that it's a traditional Greek and Russian royal name. It's a prettier name when it's pronounced the European way as ee-RAY-nuh, the way it's pronounced in the Sherlock Holmes Grenada series with Jeremy Brett. Eye-REEN is the way it seems to be pronounced in most English-speaking countries, though.

I think this is a great name, but seems rather old-fashioned nowadays, which is a shame because I think it could be easily recycled and freshened up on a young girl. And Reenee is a really great-sounding nickname. :)

I hate this name because of the sound of it and the last three letters of the name.

I'm named Irene, at first I really didn't like it, but I'm starting to warm up to it, I've only ever met 1 other person named Irene - so it's pretty unique, but unfortunately I've had stupid nicknames such as irenis or irenis the penis and other variants of them bestowed upon me by certain friends.

The English pronunciation is really hideous to me. EYE-reeeeen. Ugh. I think the Italian and Spanish pronunciation is very nice, it's ee-ren-ay.

I have actually began to like the English pronunciation, but I much prefer the German one.

The name "Irene" was also given to a hurricane which damaged severely the Caribbean, the United States East Coast and Atlantic Canada in 2011.

I don't like it that they give female names to hurricanes. My name is Irene and I'm teased a lot about it!:(

Was very popular in Constantinople, most famous is Empress Irene, regnant alone from 797 to 802, there are also several Bulgarian queens with name Irene.

My name is Irene, pronounced eye-REEN, and I've always hated it. I have been told it's a beautiful name, but I've also been told it's an old lady name. I have never liked either the sound or meaning of the name, because I find a name that means "peace" very unfitting for someone who's so full of inner chaos like myself. Though there's thousands of names I like better, I would never change it.

It is somewhat true that this name sounds like an old lady's name and it dates back many years ago of when it came into usage as a name. The reason it is labeled as an "old lady's name" is because it became very popular and widespread since the time it was used as a name that a lot of women, young and old, are named Irene. I don't think you should rely on the facts that because it's so common it should be labeled as a "Granny" name, WRONG. Go accordingly with your taste in names, not with critics. Be rational, because critics can drive you crazy. If you see it the same way they do, then you can rely on your reasoning. I think this name doesn't sound bad at all and it has a great meaning. The spelling of Irene and Eirene partly resemble the country Ireland because of the Ire and Eire lettering, and that is what they actually mean. Why not say this name is a good choice for an Irish girl. Overall, this is a good name for anyone, but it's not my favorite. However, if this is your name, and if it were mine, I wouldn't change it and neither should you. Lastly, I never heard anyone make fun of this name. There is a reason to be proud of it. So, if you have a nice name, you should be proud of it, even if you don't like yourself.

I know an English-born lady in her 90s who's spent most of her life in Australia and she uses the 3-syllables.
In one of the Leslie Dunkling name books there's a quote from a British lady called Irene - she explains that in the early 20th century an American musical was performed in London, and became a theatrical hit. It included a song about an Irene. But the American composer had set the word Irene to only two notes. The song caught on in England, and the 3-syllable pronunciation was doomed!

I think that the name Irene has a peaceful meaning. This name is unpopular now, but it was popular in the last century. So I think that Irene will become popular again in the future. Anyway, Irene is a nice name. I will probably use it.

Irene Bedard (born July 22, 1967) is an American actress of Native American heritage. She provided the voice for Pocahontas in the Disney film of the same name.

This name is also used in The Netherlands - the most famous Dutch bearer of this name is Princess Irene (b. 1939), one of the sisters of Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands.

In Gone with the Wind, Scarlett's youngest sister is named Caroline Irene, but she goes by Carreen.

Name of the Day: March 23, 2013.

Irene Redfield is the main character in Passing, a novel by Nella Larsen. She is an unlikeable character.