Ivan
2025 SSA
About Ivan
Though some might find it a bit heavy-booted, Ivan is one of the few Russian boys' names to become fully accepted into the American naming pool.
Ivan is, of course, ubiquitous in Russian culture. There is one of the brothers in The Brothers Karamazov, the protagonists of Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilyich, and Solzhenitsyn's One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, and the title character in Chekhov's Uncle Vanya. Real life Ivans include writer Turgnenev, biologist Pavlov, tennis player Lendl, and rulers Ivan the Great and --oops--Ivan the Terrible. Vanya is his warm and appealing nickname.
Pronounced ee-VAHN.
As of October 2026, Ivan ranked #163 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #113 in 2012, Nameberry popularity #196.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #132 | 3,079 | 1,602.9 |
| 2015 | #137 | 3,047 | 1,589.7 |
| 2016 | #131 | 3,160 | 1,665.1 |
| 2017 | #135 | 3,048 | 1,646.7 |
| 2018 | #133 | 2,910 | 1,602.3 |
| 2019 | #140 | 2,690 | 1,499.3 |
| 2020 | #153 | 2,440 | 1,413.6 |
| 2021 | #168 | 2,291 | 1,309.5 |
| 2022 | #159 | 2,363 | 1,353.4 |
| 2023 | #153 | 2,387 | 1,395.4 |
| 2024 | #153 | 2,340 | 1,358.2 |
| 2025 | #163 | 2,240 | 1,311.4 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Ivan.
- Emmanuel
- Kenneth
- Marcus
- Duncan
- Jeremiah
- Marco
- Seth
- Raymond
- Lorenzo
- Julien
- Neil
- Jesse
- Dominic
- Anton
- Joel
- Zachariah
- Julius
- Rafael
- Matthias
- Donovan
Ivan on lists
Famous Ivans
- Ivan I Daniilovich Kalita
Prince of Moscow
- Ivan II Ivanovich the Fair
Prince of Moscow
- Ivan III Vasilyevich aka Ivan the Great
Prince of Moscow
- Ivan IV Vasilyevich aka Ivan the Terrible
Tsar of Russia
- Ivan Alexander
Tsar of Bulgaria
- Ivan Asen I and II
Tsars of Bulgaria
- Ivan Khristoforovich Bagramyan
Russian WWII commander
- Ivan Lendl
tennis player
- Ivan Andreyevich Bukin
Russian ice dancer
- Ivan Basso
Italian road bicycle racer
- Ivan Aivazovsky
Russian painter
- (Ivan) Nathan Followill
musician from band "Kings of Leon"
- Ivan Todorovic
Serbian footballer (plays for Portugal)
- Ivan "Kuki" Kukolj
Serbian singer
- Ivan Sanchez
Spanish actor
- Ivan Dodig
Croatian tennis player
- Ivan Petrovich Pavlov
renowned Russian physiologist and Nobel Prize winner
- Ivan Bunin
winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature
- Ivan Martinez
Spanish YouTuber; twin brother Emilio Martinez
- Ivan Orkin
American chef, creator of Ivan Ramen restaurants
- Ivan Vladimirovich Provorov
Russian ice hockey player
- Ivan Toney
English Footballer
Ivan in pop culture
- Ivan Braginsky
personification of Russia in the manga/anime Axis Powers: Hetalia
- "The One and Only Ivan"
novel by Katherine Applegate
- Ivan Alexeev
character in film "Tapeheads"
- Ivan
character in animated series "Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends"
- "Ivan the Fool
" short story by Leo Tolstoy
- Ivan Vanko
villain in "The Invincible Iron" comics
- Ivan Denisovich Shukhov
title character in Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn's "One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich"
- Ivan
character in video game "Golden Sun"
- Ivan Vassilevich Lomov
character in Anton Chekhov's "A Marriage Proposal"
- Ivan Raidenovich Raikov
character in video game "Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater"
- "The Death of Ivan Ilyich
" novel by Leo Tolstoy
- Ivan Karamazov
character in Fyodor Dostoevsky's "The Brothers Karamazov"
- Ivan
doorman in 2006 film "Curious George"
- Ivan Veen
main character in Vladimir Nabokov's "Ada or Ardor"
- Ivan Drago
boxer in film "Rocky IV"
- Ivan Nikolayevich Ponyryov (Bezdomny)
character in Mikhail Bulgakov's "The Master and Margarita"
- Ivan Shawbly
character on TV's "Mona the Vampire"
- Ivan
character in Aphmau's YouTube series
- Ivan Bruel
character in "Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug & Cat Noir"
- Ivan
a vampire in the French online visual novel Moonlight Lovers