Iago
Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello. Iago is the play's main antagonist and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hates Othello and devises a pernicious scheme to destroy him by making him believe that Desdemona is having an affair with his lieutenant, Michael Cassio.
- Welsh
- Galician
- Portuguese
Meaning & Origin of Iago
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Iago is a fictional character in Shakespeare's Othello. Iago is the play's main antagonist and Othello's standard-bearer. He is the husband of Emilia who is in turn the attendant of Othello's wife Desdemona. Iago hates Othello and devises a pernicious scheme to destroy him by making him believe that Desdemona is having an affair with his lieutenant, Michael Cassio.
Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- Welsh
- Galician
- Portuguese
The Story of Iago
Iago first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby boy name in 2002, with 6 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 2022: 10 births, good for #7,764 nationwide. The 2020s were its strongest decade, accounting for roughly 36% of all recorded Iagos. Its most recent appearance in the national data came in 2024 (6 births); the name has since faded from the published rankings. In total, more than 91 Iagos have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 2000s through the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Iago
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Iago. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
- Xacobe
Names that sound like Iago
Phonetically similar names — useful when Iago is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Iago
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About the name Iago
Iago is a boy baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 2002 and has accumulated 91 births in the dataset. Iago's peak popularity came in 2022 when it ranked #7,764. Use the chart and map above to compare Iago's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 2022 →
- Names of the 2020s →
- Names starting with "I" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.