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Girl · Tupi-inspired literary coinage, Portuguese
Iracema
Say it: ee-rah-SEH-mah
Meaning
The title heroine of José de Alencar's 1865 novel; Alencar explained it from Tupi as 'lips of honey', though this is his literary interpretation and the name is also read as an anagram of 'América'.
Disputedsharp disagreement, or a popular meaning that is not supported.
Created for Alencar's Indianist novel 'Iracema' (1865) and later given to Brazilian girls.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 61 babies given this name since 1971
- At its height in 1982, about 1 in 169,300 girls
- Fewer than 5 babies a year in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
Famous bearers
- Iracema, heroine of José de Alencar's novel
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Well-known works of literature
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.