Ian Name Meaning & Origin
Ian
Origin of the name Ian:
The Scottish form of John (God is gracious).
From A World of Baby Names by Teresa Norman.
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US Popularity of Ian Over Time

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Name Lists Featuring Ian
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Contribute your knowledge to the name Ian
- Comments and insights on the name Ian
We used a Gaelic variation for our son's name: Iain. I love how it looks, and it enforces the 2-syllable pronunciation. We've been happy with the choice. Although we do have to spell it out for people, I think these days you have to spell out almost every name anyway.
He get "eye-on" a lot.
I've heard "eye-in" or "in" more times than I can count.
If not understood properly the first time, I've had people call him "Eden."Ian, Ina and Nia are anagrams of each other; they contain the same letters.
I knew I wanted to name my son Ian since I was 12. At the time I didn't realize how celtic I was, I just loved the name. My daughter was born first and I named her Ashton (waaay before Mr. Kutcher). My Grandmother finally met an Ian in the family from Ireland. She confessed hating the name and he convinced her that it was a good and proper celtic/british name.
- Personal experiences with the name Ian
- Nicknames for Ian
"E", E-E, Big-E,
Ebo Kneibo
Kuo- Meanings and history of the name Ian
Ian is a modern Scottish form of the name John. It was not used in Scotland until the late nineteenth century, though it has since become quite popular throughout the English-speaking world.
Many Armenian surnames end in -ian (such as Kardashian), as "ian" (or "yan") means "son of" in Armenian.
- Famous real-life people named Ian
Ian Bohen - American actor (Plays Peter Hale on MTV's Teen Wolf.)
Ian Somerhalder - American actor (Plays Damon Salvatore on CW's The Vampire Diaries.)
Ian Harding - American actor
Ian Anthony Dale - American actor
Ian Ziering - American actor (but he pronounces it "Eye-an")
Ian Pierson
Ian Curtis - Late frontman of the band Joy Division
Ian McKellen - Movie Actor (plays Gandalf in Lord of the Rings and Magneto in X-Men)
Ian Kinsler - MLB baseball player (Texas Rangers (2006-2013, Detroit Tigers (2014 - present))- Ian in song, story & screen
Ian Bedlow- Main Character in Anne Tyler's Saint Maybe
Ian Malcolm- mathematician in the "Jurassic Park" films and novels
Ian Miller- Toula's non-Greek fiance in "My Big Fat Greek Wedding"
Ian Campbell - The Onion's Fields by Joseph Wambaugh
Ian - from 2007 film Alvin and the Chipmunks
Ian Howe - an antagonist in National Treasure
Ian McKinley - from the movie Final Destination 3
Ian Raymond - Laura's boyfriend in the novel and film, High Fidelity
Ian - from Shane Jiraiya Cummings' short story, "Ian". (Every male character who the protagonist meets is called Ian.)
Ian Gallagher - One of the six Gallagher children on Showtime's hit TV series "Shameless"
Ian Kabra - the 39 Clues series
Ian Hecox- from the youtube channel Smosh
Ian O'Shea- From Stephanie Meyer's "The Host"
Ian Thomas TV series Pretty Little Liars