Ivan
Ivan is a boys' name of Russian origin meaning “God is gracious.” It ranked #163 in the United States in 2025. Ivan is the Russian form of John, meaning 'God is gracious.
how do you pronounce Ivan?
ee-VAHN
Hear it spoken aloud with our AI pronunciation tool.
what does Ivan mean?
The name Ivan means “God is gracious.” It comes from the Russian language tradition.
Ivan is the Russian form of John, meaning 'God is gracious.' It is perhaps the most iconic Russian name, borne by multiple tsars including Ivan the Great and Ivan the Terrible. In Russian folklore, Ivan Tsarevich (Ivan the Prince) is the archetypal hero of fairy tales.
where does the name Ivan come from?
The Slavic form of John, ultimately from the Greek Ioannes and the Hebrew Yochanan, God is gracious. Wiktionary separately records an unrelated, rare English use of the same spelling as a variant of Evan, from the Welsh Ifan — a coincidence of spelling rather than a shared root.
the history of Ivan
A separate Wiktionary entry for a different European tradition gives the name's first record as a given name in Norway as 1824; its deepest association, per Wikipedia, remains with Slavic-language countries and cultures.
how popular is this name?
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2025 | #163 |
| 2024 | #153 |
| 2023 | #153 |
| 2022 | #159 |
| 2021 | #168 |
| 2020 | #153 |
Source: SSA National Baby Names Dataset
what are the nicknames and variants of Ivan?
Nicknames
Variants around the world
who are famous people named Ivan?
- Ivan the Terrible (first Tsar of Russia)
- Ivan Pavlov (Russian physiologist, Nobel laureate)
- Ivan Turgenev (Russian novelist)
what names are similar to Ivan?
what names go well with Ivan?
Sibling names that share Ivan's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.
Last reviewed April 30, 2026 · Curated by HushName editorial
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