Ivan
Pronunciation
  • Russian: [ɪˈvan]
  • Serbo-Croatian: [ǐʋan]
GenderMale
Other gender
FeminineIvana
Origin
Word/nameSlavic (Old Church Slavonic Їωан), from Greek; from Hebrew
Meaning"God is gracious"
Other names
Related namesJovan, Jan, Janez, Evan, Giovanni, Ifan, and "John" in other languages
Look up Ivan, Иван, or Іван in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Ivan (Cyrillic: Иван / Іван) is a Slavic male given name, connected with the variant of the Greek name Iōánnēs (English: John) from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן Yôḥānnān meaning 'God is gracious'. It is associated worldwide with Slavic countries. The earliest person known to bear the name was the Bulgarian Saint Ivan of Rila.

It is very popular in Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Belarus, North Macedonia, and Montenegro and has also become more popular in Romance-speaking countries since the 20th century.

Etymology

Ivan is the common Slavic Latin spelling, while Cyrillic spelling is two-fold: in Bulgarian, Russian, Macedonian, Serbian and Montenegrin it is Иван, while in Belarusian and Ukrainian it is Іван. The Old Church Slavonic (or Old Cyrillic) spelling is Їѡан.

It is the Slavic relative of the Latin name Johannes, corresponding to English John.[1] This Slavic version of the name originates from New Testament Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs) rather than from the Latin Io(h)annes. The Greek name is in turn derived from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yôḥānān), meaning "YHWH (God) is gracious". The name is ultimately derived from the Biblical Hebrew name יוחנן (pronounced [joχanan]), short for יהוחנן (pronounced [jehoχanan]), meaning "God was merciful". Common patronymics derived from the name are Ivanović (Serbian and Croatian), Ivanov (Russian and Bulgarian), and Ivanovich (Russian, used as middle name), corresponding to "Ivan's son".

Popularity

The name is common among Slovenes, Croats, Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Belarusians, Macedonians, Serbs, Bosnians, Montenegrins, and to a smaller extent Czechs[2][3] and Slovaks.

Ivan is the most common male name in Bulgaria (as of 2013)[4] and Croatia (as of 2013).[5] In Serbia, it was the 9th most common male name in the period of 1971–1980; 6th in 1981–1990; 9th in 1991–2000.[6] It is also the 6th most common name in Slovenia.[7]

In Croatia, with over thirty thousand namesakes, the name Ivan was the most popular between 1930 and 1940, and waned in popularity from 2003 to 2013.[8] The name Ivan was the most common masculine given name until 1959, and between 1980 and 1999.[9]

Since the 20th century, it is becoming more popular in the Romance-speaking world; Italian (both the original form and the italianized version, Ivano), Spanish (as Iván), and Portuguese (sometimes Ivã).

Ivan (pl. die Ivans) was also occasionally used by various parties during World War II as a general name for the Soviets.[10]

Forms

Its female forms are Ivana (West and South Slavic) and Ivanna (East Slavic), while Ivanka and Iva are diminutives by origin. Slavic male diminutives (including historical) are Vanya or Vanja, Ivaniš, Ivanko, Ivanča, Ivanče, etc. A shorter form of the name is Ivo.

Notable people

Mononymously known as

Royalty

Nobility

Clergy

  • Ivan Rilski (John of Rila), Bulgarian Orthodox hermit and patron saint (876 - 946)

Military

Politics

Sports

Arts

  • Ivan Barias, Dominican-American music producer and songwriter
  • Ivan Brunetti (born 1967), cartoonist
  • Ivan Bunin (1870–1953), Russian writer and Nobel laureate in literature
  • Ivan Della Mea (1940–2009), Italian singer-songwriter
  • Ivan Dixon (1931–2008), American actor, director and producer
  • Ivan Dorn (born 1988), Ukrainian singer and actor
  • Ivan Doroschuk (born 1957), lead vocalist for Men Without Hats
  • Ivan Dorschner (born 1990), Filipino-American actor, host and model
  • Ivan Franko (1856–1916), Ukrainian writer
  • Ivan (gorilla), painter
  • Ivan Graziani (1945–1997), Italian singer-songwriter
  • Ivan Jones, British Writer and poet
  • Ivan Král (1948–2020), Czech-American musician
  • Ivan Meštrović (1883–1962), Croatian sculptor and architect
  • Van Morrison (George Ivan Morrison, born 1945), Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician
  • Ivan Moody (born 1980), singer of heavy metal band Five Finger Death Punch
  • Ivan Ozhogin(born 1978), Russian singer and actor
  • Ivan Reitman (1946–2022), Czechoslovak-born Canadian film and television director, producer and screenwriter
  • Ivan Turgenev (1818–1893), Russian novelist
  • Ivan Urgant (born 1978), Russian television personality, presenter, actor and musician
  • Ivan Vazov (1850 – 1921), Bulgarian poet, novelist and playwright, often referred to as "the Patriarch of Bulgarian literature"
  • Ivan Shishmanov (1862 – 1928), Bulgarian writer, ethnographer, politician and diplomat

Science, academia, business and other

  • Ivan Aboimov (1936–2022), Russian diplomat and ambassador
  • Ivan Agayants (1911–1968), Soviet intelligence officer of Armenian origin
  • Ivan Aksakov (1823–1886), Russian littérateur and notable Slavophile
  • Ivan Boesky (born 1937), Wall Street trader who inspired the character of Gordon Gekko in the film Wall Street.
  • Ivan Chermayeff, graphic designer
  • Ivan Corea, Sri Lankan Anglican priest
  • Ivan Gazidis (born 1964), chief executive of the AC Milan
  • Ivan Glasenberg (born 1957), CEO of Glencore, director of Xstrata and Minara Resources
  • Ivan Greenberg (1896–1966), English journalist
  • Ivan Ilyin (1883–1954), Russian religious and political philosopher
  • Ivan Massow (born 1967), chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Arts
  • Ivan Menezes (1959–2023), CEO of Diageo, non-executive director at Coach, Inc.
  • Ivan Milat, Croatian Australian serial killer famous for the backpacker killings
  • Ivan Vsevolodovich Meshcherskiy (1859–1935), Russian mathematician
  • Ivan J. Parron, entertainment attorney and entrepreneur
  • Ivan Pavlov (1849–1946), Russian physiologist and Nobel laureate in Medicine & Physiology
  • Ivan Rogers (born 1960), British civil servant, former Permanent Representative of the United Kingdom to the European Union
  • Ivan Samoylovych (died 1690), Hetman of Left-bank Ukraine
  • Ivan Seidenberg (born 1946), chairman & CEO at Verizon Communications
  • Ivan Selin (born 1937), former chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Fulbright scholar
  • Ivan Semwanga, Ugandan-born South African philanthropist
  • Ivan Šramko, (born 1957), Governor of the National Bank of Slovakia (2005–2010)
  • Ivan Wettengel (1876–1935), Naval Governor of Guam

Other notable people with the given name "Ivan"

Fiction

References

  1. ↑ MFnames.com - Origin and Meaning of Ivan
  2. ↑ "Czech Names - Behind the Name".
  3. ↑ "Jméno: 'Ivan', počet výskytů 23197 v celé ČR" (in Czech). Kdejsme.cz. 2016.
  4. ↑ "Имената в България през 2014 година (Предварителни данни)" (PDF). nsi.bg (in Bulgarian). 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  5. ↑ "ŽENE U HRVATSKOJ PO PRVI PUT BOLJE OBRAZOVANE OD MUŠKARACA Koliko Hrvata ima e-mail, a koliko ne zna ni čitati?". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 26 July 2013. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
  6. ↑ "Најчешћа имена и презимена" (in Serbian). Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. 2011. Archived from the original on 2015-12-08. Retrieved 2013-12-03.
  7. ↑ "Ivan Name Meaning, Origins & Popularity". forebears.io. Retrieved 2023-02-18.
  8. ↑ "Name Ivan @ Acta Croatica".
  9. ↑ "Most frequent male and female given names by year of birth, 2011 Census". Census of Population, Households and Dwellings 2011. Zagreb: Croatian Bureau of Statistics. December 2012.
  10. ↑ "Exceptional voice of the bear from Berlin". 25 April 2008.
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