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Ivan Name Meaning, Origins & History

Ivan

Pronunciation: EYE-vun / ee-VAHN

Meaning God is gracious (see John) Origin Russian, Welsh Gender Boy
BOYS RANK
#163
TREND
10
Peak Years
2004, 2006, 2007
Lowest Years
1881, 1882, 1885
Energy Archetype
Compassionate & Creative

Rank shows the name’s position among U.S. baby names for each gender in 2025. Trend shows how many places it rose or fell since 2024. Rank 1 is the most popular. Based on U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA) data. Peak and lowest years are based on the number of boys named Ivan in the available records.

Fun Facts About the Name Ivan

  • More than 150 thousand babies named Ivan: U.S. records list 150,758 babies given the name Ivan from 1880 through 2025. Even 649 girls received the name Ivan - about 1 girl for every 231 boys.

What Does the Name Ivan Mean?

Ivan is the Slavic form of the name known in English as John. It comes from the Greek Ioannes (Ἰωάννης), which is a Greek rendering of the Hebrew Yochanan (יוֹחָנָן). The Hebrew name is a compound of Yo-, a shortened form of the divine name, and chanan, a verb meaning "to be gracious" or "to show favor." Its literal sense is "Yahweh is gracious," commonly given in English as "God is gracious." The meaning belongs to the Hebrew original; Greek and Slavonic simply carried the name forward in new sound shapes without changing what it meant.

Ivan Name History & Origins

The name reached Slavic-speaking lands through Greek Christianity rather than directly from Hebrew. In the Greek liturgy it appeared as Ioannes; rendered into Old Church Slavonic, it became Ioannъ. The everyday East Slavic form Ivan developed out of that liturgical name, with the opening vowel lost and the ending simplified. The same process produced the forms used in Ukrainian and Belarusian, and closely related shapes appear in Bulgarian, Serbian, Croatian, Czech, Slovak, and Polish (where the spelling is often Iwan).

The name spread decisively after the Christianization of Kievan Rus' in 988, when baptismal names were taken from the calendar of saints. Ivan was the form used in that calendar for John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, which helped make it one of the most frequently given names in Russia, borne by peasants and princes alike.

Several Russian rulers carried the name, including Ivan I (known as Kalita), who ruled Moscow in the 14th century; Ivan III, grand prince of Moscow from 1462 to 1505; and Ivan IV, crowned tsar in 1547 and remembered as Ivan the Terrible. The name also belonged to Ivan V, who shared the throne with Peter the Great before Peter took sole rule.

In Russian folk tradition Ivan is the stock name of the ordinary man and the tale hero: Ivan the Fool (Иван-дурак) and Ivan Tsarevich (Иван-царевич) appear across many traditional stories, a sign of how ordinary the name was rather than a sign that a single tale created it.

Western familiarity with the name grew mainly through contact with Russia, and it came into use as a given name in English-speaking countries as well. In Western writing of the 19th and 20th centuries, Ivan was often used as a generic label for a Russian or a Russian soldier.

How Popular is the Name Ivan?

Ivan recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2004. Its best rank was #113 in 2012.

U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.

Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.

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How the Name Ivan Shapes Your Personality and Life?

Your tendency is to finish whatever you start. You like to use the pen or the needle (writing, fashion design etc). You are loving, compassionate, intuitive and humanitarian. Runs of luck, either good or bad, follow you. You are sympathetic, but at times might be touchy and oversensitive. You may have a gift for writing. You are intuitive and might be interested in the arts, drama or science.

You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.

✦ Ivan's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Ivan's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.
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