Given name & surname
Ivan
“God is gracious”
In Slavic use, Ivan carries the interpretation “God is gracious.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In Slavic use, Ivan carries the interpretation “God is gracious.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Slavic.
How it developed
Ivan is used as a form of John.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1880. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ivan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 150,787
- 150,137 boys · 650 girls
- Most popular year
- 2004
- 3,479 babies
- 2025
- 2,240
- #163 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −18%
- Easing
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 2,240 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 163 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 18.3% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 3,462 in 2004. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (444). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 137,218 as a first name in 2020; 1,586 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ivan’s family of names
In English usage, Ivan has a diminutive in Van. Ivan shares a linguistic root with John. In Manx usage, Ivan has a conventional equivalent in the Spanish form Juan.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Ivan has relatives in 30 languages. Lines run from its Proto-Slavic roots to each of them.
44 related names in 30 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 28
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Ivydiminutive · English
- Evanvariant · English, Tagalog
- Vandiminutive · English
- Vanyapet form
- Johannesvariant · German
- Ivopet form · Serbo-Croatian, Portuguese
- Ivannvariant
- Iwanvariant · German, Polish
Show 20 moreShow fewer
- Ibanvariant
- Ivanovariant
- Ivanhoevariant
- Ivvanlikely variant
- Ivánekdiminutive · Czech
- Іванvariant · Belarusian
- Ivãvariant · Portuguese, zlw-ocs
- Váňadiminutive · Czech
- Ivekpet form · Serbo-Croatian
- Icopet form · Serbo-Croatian
- Ivanteavariant
- Ivanteevariant
- Ivanteyvariant
- Ivantyvariant
- Ivantvariant
- Ivantevariant
- Ivantievariant
- Ivantivariant
- Ibanovariant
- Ivanekdiminutive · Czech
Spellings & scripts 5
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 86
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Jackequivalent
- Johndoublet · English, Tagalog
- Iandoublet · Portuguese, Tagalog
- Giovannidoublet · Tagalog, English
- JuanSpanish
- Gianniequivalent
- Johnnyequivalent
- Seandoublet · English, Tagalog
Show 52 moreShow fewer
- Johanequivalent
- Ivannafeminine form
- Shanedoublet · English
- Joanequivalent
- Shawndoublet · English
- Jeandoublet · French, Portuguese
- Jonequivalent
- Gianequivalent
- Ivanafeminine form · Czech, Slovene
- Hansequivalent
- Giovaniequivalent
- Joaoequivalent
- Giannisequivalent
- Johanndoublet · English
- Shaundoublet · English
- Janalso known as · Polish, Czech
- Yannisequivalent
- Ioannisequivalent
- Yanniequivalent
- Yiannisequivalent
- Ionequivalent
- Yannequivalent
- Yvanequivalent
- Giovanequivalent
- Ruandoublet · Portuguese
- Jehanequivalent
- Hovhannesequivalent
- Ioandoublet · Romanian
- Jaanequivalent
- Hannesequivalent
- Hannsequivalent
- Ivaneequivalent
- Ieuanrelated form
- Siônequivalent
- Erwannequivalent
- Xoánequivalent
- Հովհաննեսequivalent
- Ioannequivalent
- Joannesequivalent
- Iohannesequivalent
- Giuànequivalent
- Jónequivalent
- Yovkoequivalent
- Seánequivalent
- ივანეequivalent
- Iwoequivalent
- Янкаequivalent
- Johannèsequivalent
- Honzaequivalent
- Ionuțequivalent
- Jóhannesequivalent
- Ibánequivalent
And 26 more.
See also 1
Names our sources mention alongside this one. They are related in story or meaning, not forms of this name.
People named Ivan
- Ivan TurgenevRussian writer (1818–1883)
- Ivan BuninRussian writer and poet (1870–1953)
- Ivan PavlovRussian physiologist (1849–1936)
- Ivan the TerribleTsar of all Russia from 1547 to 15841530–1584
- Yanka KupalaBelarusian writer (1882–1942)
- Ivan KrylovRussian writer (1769–1844)
- Ivan GoncharovRussian novelist and official (1812–1891)
- Ivan FrankoUkrainian poet and writer (1856–1916)
- Ivan RakitićCroatian footballerborn 1988
Characters named Ivan: Ivan Tsarevich (Russian folk hero), Ivan Drago (fictional Russian boxer from the film Rocky IV), Ivan Ivanovitch Sakharine, Ivan Fyodorovich Karamazov (novel The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Ivan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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Simion
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Dimitar
Dimitar is a masculine given name from Slavic. It is used in English and Serbo-Croatian.
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“born during the spring”
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Ivanas
“God is gracious”
>99% boys