Name of the Day: Ivan
There’s no name more classic than John. But he’s also become a bit anonymous – even bland. For an exotic twist on this long-time staple, why not consider the Slavic version?
Thanks for Lola for suggesting our Name of the Day: Ivan.
Lest you think that Ivan is an unthinkable appellation for a boy, check the US Social Security rankings. Last year, he came in at a surprisingly popular #127.
Of course, dear John charted at #19, nickname Jack at #38 and variants Evan and Ian at #40 and #74, respectively. So while we count some Ivans among the more than 90,000 boys given a variant of John as a name in 2007, we think this choice remains distinctive.
About 3200 newborns were called Ivan last year – roughly as many as Oscar or Levi. And we think that’s the category in which he fits: more common than you might imagine, still far from a household name.
Ivan has a regal ring to it; rulers of Bulgaria and Russia have favored this choice. Two of the Russian monarchs stand out: Ivan the Great and Ivan the Terrible.
The Great Ivan is credited with forming the basis for the modern Russian state during the 1400s. During his long reign, he tripled Russia’s territory and ended the more than 200-year custom of paying tribute to the Mongols.
The Terrible Ivan came along almost a century later; it’s worth noting that the Russian word connotes power and achievement rather than barbarism or incompetence. If the earlier Ivan gathered land, this ruler built a nation. He was the first to wear the title tsar, and his accomplishments were considerable. He reformed the legal code and took steps towards introducing representative assemblies and a measure of self-determination for peasants in rural Russia. Ivan also opened up new trading partnerships, though ultimately international affairs would be his undoing. He spent the latter half of his tenure at war, costing Russia a fortune. Ivan also quarreled with his son and heir, and fatally wounded him during an argument.
So maybe “terrible” isn’t so misplaced after all.
Balance out that Ivan’s bad acts, however, with the 9th century Saint Ivan, a hermit who left the good life in Bohemia for good works. Add in the literary Ivan Turgenev, tennis champ Ivan Lendl, baseball’s Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez, director Ivan Reitman and the name takes on additional facets.
It also takes on additional pronunciations. The commonly heard EYE vun is rivaled by ee VAHN in many circles.
Overall, we find Ivan a choice we’d call “just daring enough.” He’s not wildly unusual, and it’s hard to argue with calling your son John. But there’s a bit of dash to him, too, with that sharp “v” and all of his history. It should wear well on a child, and you’ll know exactly what to call him when he throws his first temper tantrum.
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I really have a fondness for Ivan. It’s one of the few names my boyfriend’s warmed to that I’ve talked about, although I don’t know how well it’d work in our case; he’s a Sean. I think Ivan’s a regal and distinctive choice nowadays. I much prefer the English pronunciation, although I know Lola loves ee-vahn; I love long vowels in names, I think, Is anyway. I don’t think I’d use Ivan myself, there’s many names I love more, but I would love to meet a young one!
I just met a little baby Ivan recently. He was Asian-American and absolutely adorable. The name has been on my mind ever since, as well as why I don’t hear it more often. After all, it’s just one letter off from Evan, which is EVERYWHERE. Yet Ivan is tougher, more exotic and more distinguished. And I hear Ivy fairly regularly as well. So…bring on the Ivans, people!
I grew up with an Ivan and his brother Pavel – worth noting that they were two Hispanic boys with Russian names. Ivan was pronounced ee-VAHN. there was another older boy I knew who was EYE-van. He was hot (well, I remember him that way; it was 20 years ago). I like the name Ivan better with the EYE-van pronunciation. It wouldn’t be a contender because of my husband’s pesky traditional streak, but its a nice name. I definitely don’t roll my eyes at it.
What’s with everyone always saying, “I wouldn’t use [insert name here] myself, but I’d be charmed/would love to meet one”? What does that mean?
Photoquilty, It means exactly that. It’s not a name I would use myself but for anyone else, awesome choice! I have a lot of names that fit that category)
Ivan is awesome. I do have him on my working list mainly because he’s one of the few family names that don’t sound too awful with the surname. I don’t mind the Eye-van pronunciation but adore the ee-VAHN one.
If you want to hear quite a few Russian names in Russian and also want to watch a cool sci-fi ish fantasy movie (trilogy in the making, check this out: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0403358/ (I’m hoping it’ll show, even if it’s not clickable) but just in case, IMDb “Nochnoy dozor” or “Night Watch” (“Day Watch” or “Nochnoy bazar” is the second one) Ilya, Kostya, Yuriy, Olga, Svetlana, Anton, Ignat, Darya, Simeon… I could go on. It is awesome. A bit weird at times, no one says the Russians are not faerie tale tellers but still, a great story and a really interesting watch. I’m looking for the books they were based oon in English. I want them for Xmas! Olga is Russian is gorgeous (I wish I could find someone Russian to say Ursula for me, I melt for her then!)
Alright, that a was bit of a veer off there. Back to Ivan. What I was getting at with that whole spiel is this: if you hear Ivan in Russian, you’ll never want to hear EYE-van again.
As with John, he ages well. Ivan feels stronger and a bit more distinctive than John. And I agree he’s quite a bit more dashing. I’d use it to honor the great Uncle and the other half (who’s got John in the middle for his Grandpa!). It works out nicely for us. 
Photoquilty – for me, it means exactly what it says. There are names I love more than Ivan and therefore would use them before I used Ivan, but it’s a nice name so I’d love to see it on someone else’s kid. Sometimes the name isn’t really my style but I like it objectively, like Priscilla, so again, wouldn’t use it myself but would find it interesting on someone else’s child.
I like Ivan, but only the ee-VAHN pronunciation. And it has so many cute diminutives in Russian!!
We considered Ivan for baby #2, had he been a boy. It makes a great sibset – Alexei and Ivan. And they’re both a twist on very traditional, classic names. He does seem to be rising, among families without any link to Russia – I’ve heard Ivan (ee VAHN) for a few small Spanish-speaking boys ’round these parts.
But Photoquilty, I was about to type “it’s not for us.” You raise a good point!
For me, the phrase almost always means there’s a deal-breaking reason. Sometimes they don’t fit with our surname or the choice reminds me of someone awful or maybe it seems like a poor fit with Alexei and Clio.
But Ivan was veto’d early for another reason. Even though Arthur and I both liked the idea, it’s too Russian. And with a (very, very, very) Polish family, that’s an issue. The Polish form of John is Jan – that didn’t seem like quite the right choice, either. We kept coming back to Nikolai, but that felt like we were trying too hard to match. And Alexei has proven tough to wear. It happened again this weekend – we stopped at a Burger King with a playground in rural Maryland on our trip back from Thanksgiving. Alexei was playing with another little boy and I fell into conversation with his mother. It went like this:
OM: What’s your son’s name?
Me: Alexei.
OM: Oh, I’m sorry. (She blushes, looks at his longish hair.) I thought he was a little boy.
Me: (Laughing.) He is. It’s a family name.
OM: Oh. And this is your daughter?
Me: This is Clio.
OM: Oh. That’s nice.
No one bats an eye in metro DC, but just a few miles farther out and my kids’ names aren’t just unusual, they’re hard to understand. Ivan is easy to handle, and I like that quality.
I like it a lot (in Russian pronunciation) and with the right last name I’d use it. I like John and practically of its forms in other languages. I wonder if any Americans upon hearing it pronounced ee-VON think of Yvonne. I don’t really make that connection though.
In 6 weeks I will be having my second child and if it’s a boy I will be calling it Ivan. My father is called Ivan and I love the name so much. We cant think of a nicer name and there has never been much discussion about it as we both adore it. If its a girl we would like to name her Florence which has taken much longer to decide on. Its the long wait now
Ruth, congratulations on #2! What great names you’ve chosen – please stop back and tell us with Ivan/Florence makes his or her debut.