Slavic name of Greek and Hebrew origin.
Ivan is the most common Slavic variant of the name John, deriving from the Greek name “Ιωάννης”, “Ioannes” or “Ioannis”, itself deriving from the Hebrew “Yochanan”.
Six Russian rulers and nine Bulgarian emperors were named Ivan.
Among them, Ivan IV the Terrible, grand prince of Moscow and Tsar of All the Russias in the 16th century.
Russian author Ivan Turgenev who wrote “Fathers and Sons”.
Other forms of the name are Ivo, Ivano, Ian, Yan, Van, Vanya, Jon, Jan, Giannis, Yannis, Jens, Jack, Jake, João, Juan, Giovanni, Joop, Sean, Hans.
Feminine forms of the name are Ivana, Iva, Vana, Jovana, Janis, Joanna, Hanna.
Famous bearers are Ivan Pavlov, Ivan Lendl, Ivan Reitman, Ivan Sergei, Ivan Dixon, Ivan Rodriguez, Iván Sánchez, Iván Kamarás, Ivan Rakitic.
Ivan is a popular name in Croatia and Bosnia Herzegovina.