Ian
Featured in baby name books
Ian is the Scottish form of John, meaning “God is gracious” or “God is good,” with Iain and Ean as variants. Ian arrived in the U.S. around 1934, peaked in the mid-1960s, and long sounded quintessentially British thanks to James Bond creator Ian Fleming. Other well-known Ians include actors Ian McKellen and Ian McShane and Jethro Tull’s Ian Anderson. Sci-fi Ians include Ian Chesterton, one of Doctor Who’s first companions, and chaos theorist Dr. Ian Malcolm of Jurassic Park.
Sources: 10,000 Baby Names, 1,107 Baby Names That Stand the Test of Time, Baby Names (Laura Emerson), Baby Names Made Easy, Baby Names Your Child Can Live With, The Best Baby Names for Boys, The Everything Baby Names Book, Numerology for Baby Names, Sci-Fi Baby Names
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Usage of Ian in different languages / cultures
The list below was created by gathering names from various sources for different languages, and then matching Ian against each list of names.
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Albanian
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Arabic
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Armenian
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Bengali
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Bulgarian
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Catalan
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Chinese
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Cornish
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Croatian
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Czech
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Danish
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Dothraki
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Dutch
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English
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Estonian
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Filipino
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Finnish
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French
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Georgian
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German
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Greek
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Hawaiian
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Hebrew
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Hindi
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Hungarian
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Icelandic
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Indonesian
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Irish
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Italian
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Japanese
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Khmer
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Klingon
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Korean
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Latin
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Latvian
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Lithuanian
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Macedonian
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Norwegian
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Persian
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Polish
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Portuguese
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Romanian
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Russian
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Scottish
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Serbian
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Slovak
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Slovenian
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Spanish
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Swahili
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Swedish
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Telugu
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Thai
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Turkish
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Ukrainian
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Vietnamese
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Welsh
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Yiddish
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Yoruba
Note: In some cases it is possible for the check mark to be missing even if Ian is used in a particular country, as almost no source name list has 100% coverage.
Ian in official name statistics
United States
In 2025, 3,924 boys were named Ian, making it the #83 boys' name in the US. Since 1912, 257,664 boys have been named Ian, with the most (6,688) in 2005. It is most common, relative to births, in New Jersey, Maryland and New Mexico.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880–2025. Names given to fewer than 5 babies in a year are not listed.
Other countries
Counts are babies born that year, or living people for "all ages" rows, as published by each country's statistics office or population register.
Ian in other languages
- Jan Catalan, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, German, Polish, Romanian, Slovenian, Swedish
- Ivan Czech, Dutch, French, German, Italian, Slovenian
- Ivo Czech, Dutch, Estonian, Italian, Slovenian
- Johannes Dutch, Estonian, German, Norwegian, Swedish
- Jon Danish, English, Norwegian, Spanish, Swedish
- Иван Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Serbian, Ukrainian
- Hans Dutch, German, Norwegian, Swedish
- Iwan Dutch, German, Polish, Welsh
- Jack Dutch, English, Irish
- Johan Dutch, German, Swedish
- John Dutch, English, German
- Sean Dutch, English, Irish
- Evan Dutch, Welsh
- Gianni Dutch, Italian
- Giovanni Dutch, Italian
- Ioan Romanian, Welsh
- Johann Dutch, German
- Johnny Dutch, English
- Juan Dutch, Spanish
- Gian Italian
- Hanns German
- Honza Czech
- Ieuan Welsh
- Ifan Welsh
- Ioannes Latin
- Ion Romanian
- Ivano Italian
- Jaan Estonian
- Jean French
- Joan Catalan
Source: Wikidata (CC0).
Storms named Ian
Tropical storms, hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones that have been named Ian, newest first.
| Storm | Year | Ocean | Peak wind |
|---|---|---|---|
| Hurricane Ian (Category 5) | 2022 | North Atlantic | 259 km/h |
| Tropical storm Ian | 2016 | North Atlantic | 102 km/h |
| Cyclone Ian (Category 4) | 2014 | South Pacific | 241 km/h |
| Tropical storm Ian | 1997 | South Pacific | 102 km/h |
| Tropical storm Ian | 1996 | Western Pacific | 74 km/h |
| Cyclone Ian (Category 4) | 1992 | South Indian Ocean | 213 km/h |
| Typhoon Ian (Category 3) | 1987 | Western Pacific | 204 km/h |
| Cyclone Ian (Category 1) | 1982 | South Indian Ocean | 148 km/h |
Source: IBTrACS, NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information. Peak wind is the highest sustained wind recorded for the storm.
Towns named Ian
There are 37 towns and villages with Ian in their name, in 11 countries.
🇹🇭 Thailand 24🇱🇦 Laos 3🇰🇷 South Korea 2🇨🇳 China 1🇮🇩 Indonesia 1🇮🇳 India 1🇮🇷 Iran 1🇰🇵 North Korea 1
| Name | Where | Population | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ban Ian | Chiang Rai, 🇹🇭 Thailand | – | Map |
| Ban Ian | Chiang Rai, 🇹🇭 Thailand | – | Map |
| Ian | East Nusa Tenggara, 🇮🇩 Indonesia | – | Map |
| Ian | Gyeongsangbuk-do, 🇰🇷 South Korea | – | Map |
| Ian | North Chungcheong, 🇰🇷 South Korea | – | Map |
| Ian-dong | Nampo, 🇰🇵 North Korea | – | Map |
| Iān | Jammu and Kashmir, 🇮🇳 India | – | Map |
| Kū’īān | 🇮🇷 Iran | – | Map |
| Oé Ian | Sơn La Province, 🇻🇳 Vietnam | – | Map |
| Ban Cha Ian | Nakhon Si Thammarat, 🇹🇭 Thailand | – | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Lakes named Ian
There are 14 lakes and reservoirs with Ian in their name, in 3 countries.
🇨🇦 Canada 7🇹🇭 Thailand 6🇰🇷 South Korea 1
| Name | Where | |
|---|---|---|
| Ian Lake | British Columbia, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Ian | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Ian | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Ian | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Lac Ian | Quebec, 🇨🇦 Canada | Map |
| Ang Kep Nam Khlong Ian | Sakon Nakhon, 🇹🇭 Thailand | Map |
| Ang Kep Nam Nong Ian | Buriram, 🇹🇭 Thailand | Map |
| Ang Kep Nam Nong Ian Dong | Mukdahan, 🇹🇭 Thailand | Map |
| Ang Kep Nam Nong Ian Nao | Nakhon Phanom, 🇹🇭 Thailand | Map |
| Ang Kep Nam Nong Sang Ian | Khon Kaen, 🇹🇭 Thailand | Map |
Source: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Maps: OpenStreetMap.
Celebrities named Ian
Based on celebrities listed on Wikipedia, filtered to only those with the first name Ian.
Ian Agol
Ian Ashbee
Ian Ball
Ian Bannen
See more...
Fictional characters named Ian
Characters from films and TV series, from Wikidata, ordered by how widely they are covered on Wikipedia.
Character data: Wikidata (CC0). Images: Wikimedia Commons; click an image for its author and licence.
Ian as a pet name
FurryName has found 26 dogs named Ian in public pet registers, making it the #4,523 dog name there. Most of them are registered in Toronto (3), Basel (1), Seattle (1). Ian as a dog name →
Ian products
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