Ivan (name)
Ivan (Cyrillic: Иван or Iван) is a Slavic male given name, a variant of the Greek name Iōánnēs (English: John) from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן Yôḥānnān meaning 'God is gracious'. It is popular in Russia, Ukraine, Serbia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Belarus, North Macedonia, and Montenegro and has also become more popular in Romance-speaking countries since the 20th century.
Pronunciation |
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Gender | Male |
Other gender | |
Feminine | Ivana |
Origin | |
Word/name | Slavic (Old Church Slavonic Їωан), from Greek; from Hebrew |
Meaning | "God is gracious" |
Other names | |
Related names | See Evan, Giovanni, Ifan & "John" in other languages |
Look up Ivan, Иван, or Iван in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. |
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 Iван. 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 is merciful". Common patronymics derived from the name are Ivanović (Serbo-Croatian), Ivanov (Russian and Bulgarian), and Ivanovich (Russian, used as middle name), corresponding to "Ivan's son".
Popularity
The name is common among Russians, Ukrainians, Serbs, Bulgarians, Croats, 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]
It is one of the most common names (among the top hundred) in Croatia, with over thirty thousand namesakes living there. The name Ivan was the most popular from years 1930 to 1940. The peak year was 1930. It was the least popular from years 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]
Forms
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.
Notable people
Royalty
- Ivan Vladislav, Bulgarian emperor (1015–1018)
- Ivan Asen I, Bulgarian emperor (1189–1196)
- Ivan II or Kaloyan, Bulgarian emperor (1197–1207)
- Ivan Asen II, Bulgarian emperor (1218–1241)
- Ivan Stephen, Bulgarian emperor (1330–1331)
- Ivan Alexander, Bulgarian emperor (1331–1371)
- Ivan Shishman, Bulgarian emperor in Tarnovo (1371–1395)
- Ivan Stratsimir, Bulgarian emperor in Vidin (1356–1396)
- Ivan I, "The Moneybag", Grand Duke of Moscow (1325–1340)
- Ivan II, "The Fair", Grand Duke of Moscow (1353–1359)
- Ivan III, "The Great", Grand Prince of Moscow (1462–1505)
- Ivan IV, "The Terrible", Russian emperor (1547–1584)
- Ivan V, Russian emperor (1682–1696)
- Ivan VI, Russian emperor (1740–1741)
Nobility
- John Horvat (Ivan Horvat, d. 1394), Hungarian-Croatian nobleman, Ban of Macsó (1376–1381, and 1385–1386)
- John of Palisna (Ivan od Paližne, d. 1391), Hungarian-Croatian nobleman, Ban of Croatia (1385–1386)
- Ivan Bohun (died 1664), Cossack colonel
- Ivan Bot, Hungarian-Croatian nobleman, Ban of Croatia (1493)
- Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of Zaporizhian Host
- Ivan Mažuranić, Austro-Hungarian nobleman, Ban of Croatia (1873–1880), and poet
- Ivan Pidkova (died 1578), Cossack leader
- Ivan Sirko (c. 1610–1680), Cossack military leader
- Ivan Sulyma, Cossack leader
Clergy
- Ivan Rilski (John of Rila), Orthodox hermit, Bulgarian patron saint
Military
- Ivan Konev, a Russian/Soviet army boy
Sports
- Ivan Almeida (born 1989), Cape Verdean basketball player
- Iván Campo (born 1974), Spanish footballer
- Ivan Cleary (born 1971), Australian Rugby League player and coach
- Iván Córdoba (born 1976), Colombian footballer
- Ivan Fedotov (born 1996), Russian ice hockey goaltender
- Iván González Ferreira (born 1987), Paraguayan footballer
- Iván Helguera (born 1975), Spanish footballer
- Iván Hurtado (born 1974), Ecuadorian footballer
- Ivan Lendl (born 1960), Czech-American tennis player
- Ivan Ljubičić (born 1979), Croatian tennis player
- Ivan Miljković (born 1979), Serbian volleyball player
- Ivan Osiier (1888–1965), Danish épée, foil, and sabre fencer, 25x Danish champion
- Ivan Perišić (born 1989), Croatian footballer
- Ivan Rakitić (born 1988), Croatian soccer player
- Iván Rodríguez (born 1971), Major League Baseball player
- Ivan Rudez (born 1979), Croatian basketball coach
- Ivan Runje (born 1990), Croatian footballer
- Ivan Sproule (born 1981), Northern Irish footballer
- Ivan Wilfred Johnson (1898–1979), Canadian hockey player
- Iván Zamorano (born 1967), Chilean footballer
- Iván Zarandona (born 1980), Equatoguinean footballer
- Ivan Zaytsev (disambiguation), several sportsmen
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 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 Kral (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 Šijak (born 1969), Serbian visual artist, professor, director, and cinematographer
- Ivan Turgenev (1818–1893), Russian novelist
- Ivan Urgant (born 1978), Russian television personality, presenter, actor and musician
Science, academia, business and other
- Ivan Aboimov (born 1936), Russian diplomat and ambassador
- Ivan Agayants (1911–1968), Soviet intelligence officer of Armenian origin
- Ivan Ahčin (1897–1960), Slovene sociologist, publicist, journalist, author and politician
- 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 Arsenal Football Club
- 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 Kaufman (born 1961), President of Arbor Realty Trust
- Ivan Massow (born 1967), chairman of the Institute of Contemporary Arts
- Ivan Menezes (born 1959), CEO of Diageo, non-executive director at Coach, Inc.
- Ivan Misner, chairman of BNI
- 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 Reitman (born 1946), Order of Canada, film producer and director, known for the Ghostbusters film series
- 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 Tsybaev, co-founder and CEO at Trucker Path
- Ivan Warner (1919–1994), New York politician and judge
- Ivan Wettengel (1876–1935), Naval Governor of Guam
Other notable people with the given name "Ivan"
Fiction
- Ivan Braginsky, the given name for the national personification of Russia from the anime series Hetalia: Axis Powers
- Ivan, a secondary character of Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends
- Ivan the Fool, a character of Ivan the Fool (story)
- Ivan Vanko, an antagonist from the Marvel Comics franchise The Invincible Iron Man and appears as the primary antagonist in the sequel to the film adaptation.
- Ivan Denisovich Shukhov, a character of One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
- Ivan, a Nintendo character in the Golden Sun series
- Ivan, a Nintendo character in Devil's Third and Pokémon series.
- Ivan, a Nintendo character in New game Action in 2019.
- Ivan Vassilevich Lomov, a character in Anton Chekhov's one-act play, A Marriage Proposal
- Ivan Raidenovich Raikov, a character who appears in Hideo Kojima's video game, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater.
- Ivan Ilych, the title character of Leo Tolstoy's book, The Death of Ivan Ilyich.
- Ivan Karamazov, brother of protagonist Alyosha Karamazov, in Fyodor Dostoevsky's novel, The Brothers Karamazov
- Ivan is the doorman in the 2006 film Curious George.
- Ivan Veen is the main character of Vladimir Nabokov's Ada or Ardor.
- Ivan Drago is the popular Soviet boxer and nemesis of Rocky Balboa in Rocky IV.
- Ivan Nikolayevich Ponyryov (Bezdomny), a character in Mikhail Bulgakov's novel, The Master and Margarita
- Ivan Shawbly, a character from the television series Mona the Vampire
- Ivan Ooze, the villain in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie
- Ivan Kintobor, comic book and game character from the Sonic universe, Dr. Eggman's greater ancestor and possible existence in dimensions as an unknown lifeform or object
- Ivanhoe, an 1820 novel by Sir Walter Scott
References
- MFnames.com - Origin and Meaning of Ivan
- http://www.behindthename.com/names/usage/czech
- "Jméno: 'Ivan', počet výskytů 23197 v celé ČR" (in Czech). Kdejsme.cz. 2016.
- "Имената в България през 2014 година (Предварителни данни)" (PDF). nsi.bg (in Bulgarian). 26 July 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- "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. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
- "Најчешћа имена и презимена" (in Serbian). Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. 2011.
- https://actacroatica.com/en/name/Ivan/
- http://www.smh.com.au/news/obituaries/exceptional-voice-of-the-bear-from-berlin/2008/04/24/1208743144542.html. Missing or empty
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