Iain
About Iain
Iain, this authentic Gaelic form of John, has been well used in Scotland since the early twentieth century, used concurrently with the shortened Ian spelling, but is rarely seen in the US.
Iain Banks and Iain Sinclair are respected contemporary Scottish novelists.
As of October 2026, Iain ranked #7357 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #1181 in 2003.
Editor's take: The name Iain is a boy's name of Gaelic origin meaning "God is gracious".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #2,261 | 59 | 30.7 |
| 2015 | #2,501 | 50 | 26.1 |
| 2016 | #2,740 | 44 | 23.2 |
| 2017 | #3,268 | 35 | 18.9 |
| 2018 | #3,066 | 38 | 20.9 |
| 2019 | #2,872 | 43 | 24 |
| 2020 | #2,740 | 45 | 26.1 |
| 2021 | #4,420 | 23 | 13.1 |
| 2022 | #4,127 | 26 | 14.9 |
| 2023 | #4,384 | 24 | 14 |
| 2024 | #4,227 | 25 | 14.5 |
| 2025 | — | 0 | 0 |
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Iain.
Famous Iains
- Iain Glen
Scottish actor
- Iain Lee
English comedian, television and radio presenter
- Iain De Caestecker
Scottish actor
- Iain Thomas
South African author and blogger
- Iain Dowie
Northern Irish football manager
- Iain Norman Macleod
British Chancellor of the Exchequer
- Iain Edward Hume
Canadian footballer
- (Alexander) Iain Fordyce Munro
Scottish footballer
- Iain Armitage
American actor, plays the part of Sheldon Cooper on "Young Sheldon"
- Aston Iain Merrygold
singer of British boy band JLS