Ian

Ian: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning: “God is gracious”
Origin: Scottish Gaelic
Say it: EE-un · 2 syllables
Used for: Boys

Ian is the Scottish Gaelic form of John, ultimately from Hebrew Yochanan. It has been widely used in Scotland and beyond in the exact spelling Ian.

Scottish names Names meaning faith Names meaning grace Short names Classic names International names

How popular is Ian?

20241,368 per million US babies

Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Compare with another name

Babies named Ian in 20244,555

2024 rank#75 boys

Peak year2005

Total US babies since 1880254,514

Ian has been fairly stable over the last fifteen years.

Names like Ian

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

JohnYahweh is gracious · Hebrew
JackGod is gracious · English
Jacksonson of Jack · English
Jaxonson of Jack · English
GiovanniGod is gracious · Italian
JuanYahweh is gracious · Hebrew
Evanthe Lord is gracious · Welsh
IvanGod is gracious · Slavic

Ian questions

What does the name Ian mean?

Ian means "God is gracious". It comes from Scottish Gaelic. Ian is the Scottish Gaelic form of John, ultimately from Hebrew Yochanan. It has been widely used in Scotland and beyond in the exact spelling Ian.

Is Ian a boy or girl name?

Ian is mainly a boy's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Ian?

4,555 US babies were named Ian in 2024. Its peak year was 2005.

How do you pronounce Ian?

Ian is usually pronounced EE-un.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.