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

Military

Politics

Sports

Arts

Science, academia, business and other

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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