Ian Name Meaning

A name with a seriously cool look, Ian has been nestled high on the charts since the 1970s. He’s never reached ridiculous heights of popularity, allowing him to fall into the sweet spot territory, a range of names that are common but not at all overused.

A clever way to honor a John in your life, Ian is the Scottish form of the name. He has deep roots spanning back years, yet has a modern air about him that wears well alongside the familiar Liam and Aiden. He’s also part of the vowel name trend that’s ushered in favorites like Oliver and Elijah.

Little Ian is short and sweet, free of pesky nicknames. He has more than enough style in his three short letters, an interesting pick for a lively child. Distinct in his look from most of the top names, Ian will always feel special. Also immune from feeling too youthful or mature, he’s great on a boy of any age.

He’s a popular name among actors like Sir Ian McKellen and Ian Richardson and also appears across the sports world with standouts like Ian Wright and Ian Desmond. You can also look to fiction for some famous Ian inspiration with the name appearing in hits like Doctor Who and Jurassic Park.

Infographic of Ian name meaning, which is A Scottish variant of John, Ian means God is gracious.
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Ian Name Popularity

How popular is the name Ian? Here’s everything we know.

Year Rank # Births % Births
1910 — 0 0%
1911 — 0 0%
1912 — 0 0%
1913 — 0 0%
1914 — 0 0%
1915 1,452 5 0.0006%
1916 — 0 0%
1917 — 0 0%
1918 — 0 0%
1919 — 0 0%
1920 — 0 0%
1921 — 0 0%
1922 — 0 0%
1923 1,575 5 0.0004%
1924 1,493 6 0.0005%
1925 1,330 7 0.0006%
1926 1,177 11 0.001%
1927 1,568 5 0.0005%
1928 1,058 16 0.0015%
1929 1,038 15 0.0014%
1930 855 25 0.0024%
1931 1,186 10 0.001%
1932 1,028 14 0.0014%
1933 1,270 6 0.0006%
1934 1,188 8 0.0008%
1935 900 19 0.002%
1936 975 14 0.0015%
1937 862 20 0.002%
1938 817 25 0.0024%
1939 690 39 0.0038%
1940 840 23 0.0022%
1941 727 36 0.0032%
1942 677 51 0.004%
1943 815 30 0.0023%
1944 710 39 0.0031%
1945 784 28 0.0023%
1946 653 58 0.0039%
1947 645 73 0.0044%
1948 729 47 0.0029%
1949 668 63 0.0039%
1950 609 82 0.0051%
1951 698 59 0.0035%
1952 630 78 0.0045%
1953 560 117 0.0066%
1954 577 118 0.0065%
1955 579 119 0.0065%
1956 546 147 0.0078%
1957 540 159 0.0083%
1958 536 167 0.0088%
1959 544 165 0.0087%
1960 515 192 0.0101%
1961 512 196 0.0104%
1962 481 230 0.0125%
1963 442 281 0.0157%
1964 381 394 0.0224%
1965 350 435 0.0266%
1966 306 559 0.0358%
1967 266 716 0.0472%
1968 278 664 0.0442%
1969 254 788 0.0511%
1970 221 1,078 0.0677%
1971 203 1,165 0.0775%
1972 189 1,218 0.0894%
1973 179 1,283 0.099%
1974 148 1,639 0.1261%
1975 143 1,713 0.1333%
1976 135 1,921 0.149%
1977 116 2,287 0.1697%
1978 117 2,159 0.1606%
1979 107 2,543 0.1804%
1980 104 2,905 0.1987%
1981 101 2,932 0.1995%
1982 83 3,581 0.2396%
1983 76 3,670 0.2487%
1984 78 3,792 0.2549%
1985 78 3,994 0.2631%
1986 85 3,713 0.246%
1987 80 3,924 0.2571%
1988 76 4,314 0.2768%
1989 68 4,947 0.3066%
1990 70 5,459 0.3294%
1991 72 5,321 0.3265%
1992 68 5,533 0.3466%
1993 70 5,398 0.3462%
1994 74 5,267 0.3432%
1995 67 5,594 0.3712%
1996 70 5,410 0.3613%
1997 70 5,207 0.3521%
1998 73 5,351 0.3575%
1999 72 5,451 0.364%
2000 73 5,886 0.3853%
2001 70 6,083 0.4037%
2002 66 6,361 0.4245%
2003 65 6,466 0.425%
2004 69 6,504 0.4267%
2005 67 6,684 0.4372%
2006 80 6,152 0.3929%
2007 75 6,249 0.3961%
2008 80 5,721 0.3702%
2009 73 5,803 0.3883%
2010 72 5,554 0.3854%
2011 72 5,616 0.3942%
2012 78 5,686 0.399%
2013 80 5,420 0.3807%
2014 77 5,452 0.3742%
2015 76 5,316 0.3654%
2016 78 5,056 0.3507%
2017 76 4,994 0.3578%
2018 78 4,669 0.3398%
2019 81 4,525 0.3343%
2020 83 4,151 0.3261%
2021 81 4,260 0.3485%
2022 72 4,467 0.3386%

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Data via SSA.gov.

Names Like Ian

If you like Ian, you’ll love these other names like Ian.

What names are variants of Ian?

Mix it up with these names that are a variation of the name Ian.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Ean

God is gracious

Scottish

Eann

God is gracious

Scottish

Eion

God is gracious

Scottish

Eoin

God is gracious

Irish

Eon

God is gracious

Scottish

Evian

Variant of Evan

American

Iain

God is gracious

Scottish

Ion

Greek

Iwan

God is gracious

Slavic

Jan

God is gracious

Slavic

John

God is gracious

Hebrew

Jon

God is gracious

English

Sean

God is gracious

Irish

Shaun

God is gracious

Irish

Shawn

God is gracious

Irish

What names sound like Ian?

If you like how Ian sounds, you might also like these names that sound like Ian.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Eamon

Wealthy protector

Irish

Edan

Fire

Scottish

Eden

Place of pleasure

Hebrew

Eli

Ascension

Hebrew

Elia

The Lord is my God

Hebrew

Ely

High

Hebrew

Etan

Firmness, long-lived

Hebrew

Ethan

Enduring and strong

Hebrew

Iago

A Spanish form of Jacob and James.

Welsh

Idris

Fiery leader; prophet

Welsh

Owen

Noble born

Welsh

What names are similar to Ian?

Find a name that’s like Ian, but just a little bit different.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Aaron

High mountain

Hebrew

Aiden

Little fire

Irish

Callum

Dove

Scottish

Campbell

Crooked mouth

Scottish

Conner

Dog lover

Irish

Dylan

Great tide

Welsh

Finley

Fair warrior

Scottish

Greer

Watchful, vigilant

Greek

Liam

Helmet of will

Irish

Ross

Headland, cape

Scottish

Lists With Ian

Find inspiration in these baby boy name lists featuring the name Ian.

Siblings of Ian

Mamas with kids named Ian also have kids with these names.

Name Meaning Origin Popularity Other Gender
Reilly

Courageous

Irish

Ariyah

Air or solo melody

English

Eli

Ascension

Hebrew

Kai

Sea

Polynesian

Andrew

Manly and powerful

Greek

Josiah

God supports

Hebrew

Elijah

My God is Yahweh

Hebrew

22 Comments

  1. Ian, means one with God. Names have meaning and our children grow up with these names for the rest of their life. Picking a name that the child can grow into is to me very important.

    Reply

  2. Like the name, similar in english and spanish, short, beautiful 🙂

    Reply

  3. I guess you could say he was named after one of our favorite up and coming country artist. One day as we were discussing names, my husband brought up Ian, and we both kind of loved it with my husbands middle name, which is a family name. And we’ve had it picked out for a boy ever since, which was when we came up with names when pregnant with my first in 2019!

    Reply

  4. The name Ian sounds well and it’s meaning full ” God i gracious or Gift from God”

    Reply

  5. IAN is God’s blessing

    Reply

  7. I love the name Ian. It means God is gracious. And we believe he is an answer prayer cause we prayed for him after suffering a miscarriage a year before and God delivered like he always does??

    Reply

  8. My husband and I both agreed on the name. I am a teacher and have never had a student with that name. In fact, neither my husband or I know anyone named Ian so we can’t associate the with another person.

    Reply

  9. Didn’t know any one with the name. we also liked the meaning.

    Reply

  10. I almost gave my first son Jesse this as a middle name because I just loved it so much, my husband stopped me and suggested we saved it for our 2nd son. It sounded crazy at the time, but 10 months after Jesse Robert leaped out, Ian Zachary Popped out too!

    Reply

  11. Ian James, I love how it sounds. Big brothers are Callum and Shawn. I feel a little weird because they’re both on the sibling’s list! : |

    Reply

  12. I think the name Ian is very nice. When playing games, it asks a nickname for your character. When i heard the name Ian, I was addicted to the name! So i kind-of overused it a lot. But, the name Ian suits for cool people.

    Reply

  13. We love that it means “God is gracious”

    Reply

  14. I name Ian because I love that name and no one was named that.

    Reply

  15. Wondelful but hard at the same time

    Reply

  16. Wanted a three letter name

    Reply

  17. We chose the name Ian because it means God is gracious. We prayed for this child for 8 years and God miraculously and generously gifted us Ian. We are overfilled with gratitude.

    Reply

  18. We choose names based on meaning. Ian means “gift from God”.

    Reply

    • My mom actually thought of the name Ian, and then I saw that it meant god is gracious. I knew that was my boys name, cause if he has a sister she will be Elianna.

      Reply

    • I originally was going to name my son Caleb Jeremiah, but I was not liking it with my last name. Then my mom starting listing of names, and one of the names she said was ian. I immediately thought of sir Ian Fleming, after hearing that name and doing research I chose the name Ian James for my son.

      Reply

  19. I chose the name Ian because it’s always been a favorite of mine! Their is a actor named Ian Somerholden (plays Damon on vampire diaries) ever since I heard that name I fell in love with it!

    Reply

  20. Ian means “gift from God.” We liked that it was a common name and easy to spell… but not so popular that there will be a ton of other Ians in school. Short and sweet!

    Reply

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