Ivan
Ivan is a male given name of Slavic origin, related to a variant of the Greek name, which in turn derives from the Hebrew יוֹחָנָן, meaning "God is gracious". The name is strongly associated with Slavic countries and cultures. The earliest known bearer was the Ivan Chernyshyov.
Ivan is a very common name in Russia, Ukraine, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Belarus, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. It has also gained popularity in several 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 spelling is.Ivan is the Slavic relative of the Latin name Johannes, corresponding to English John and originates from New Testament Greek wikt:Ἰωάννης#Ancient Greek. The Greek name is in turn derived from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן, meaning "YHWH is gracious". The name is ultimately derived from the Biblical Hebrew name יוחנן, short for יהוחנן, meaning "God was merciful". Common patronymics derived from the name are Ivanović, Ivanov, and Ivanovich, 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 and Slovaks.Ivan is the most common male name in Bulgaria and Croatia. In Serbia, it was the 9th most common male name in the period of 1971–1980; 6th in 1981–1990; 9th in 1991–2000. It is also the 6th most common name in Slovenia.
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. The name Ivan was the most common masculine given name until 1959, and between 1980 and 1999.
Since the 20th century, it is becoming more popular in the Romance-speaking world; Italian, Spanish, and Portuguese.
Ivan was also occasionally used by various parties during World War II as a general name for the Soviets.