Ivan

Ivan (Cyrillic: Иван or 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 worldwide associated with Slavic countries.

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

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 Їωан .

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".

The name is common among Croats, Russians, Ukrainians, Bulgarians, Belarusians, Macedonians, 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]

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.[7]

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 was also occasionally used by various parties during World War II as a general name for the Soviets.[8]

Its female forms are Ivana (West and South Slavic) and Ivanna (East Slavic), while Ivanka and Iva are diminutives by origin. South Slavic male diminutives (including historical) are Ivaniš, Ivanko, Ivanča, Ivanče, etc.

Alternatively, deriving from the Latin Johannes , its female forms are also Jane , Jana and Johanna .

Other notable people with the given name "Ivan"