Primarily a boy's name · 100% boys
Origin: EnglishIan or Iain is a male name of Scottish Gaelic origin, which is derived from the Hebrew given name יוֹחָנָן and corresponds to the English name John. The spelling Ian is an Anglicization of the Scottish Gaelic forename Iain.
From Wikipedia
In Pythagorean numerology, every letter has a value from 1 to 9. Adding the letters of Ian yields these three numbers — a playful read on the name's character.
Ian's rank actually peaked two years before its raw count: #65 in 2003, versus the count's own high of 6,688 births in 2005 — a short reverse lag, the opposite direction from most names in this dataset, where count typically leads rank.
By 2024 it had eased to 4,547 births, down 17% from a decade prior, at #75.
Ian Fleming, Ian McKellen, and Motörhead's Lemmy (born Ian Fraser Kilmister) span espionage fiction, film, and heavy metal — a namesake list with real range for a name whose data history, starting in 1912, is shorter than most names this established.
Why did you choose this name — or what does it mean to you? Approved stories appear on this page.
→ See names similar to Ian · Compare Ian with another name → · Popular names of the 2000s · Boys names starting with I
Rank is among all boys' names registered that year.
| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1912 | 6 | #2,409 |
| 1913 | 7 | #2,375 |
| 1914 | 10 | #2,179 |
| 1915 | 15 | #1,920 |
| 1916 | 15 | #1,997 |
| 1917 | 19 | #1,727 |
| 1918 | 11 | #2,617 |
| 1919 | 9 | #2,985 |
| 1920 | 10 | #2,861 |
| 1921 | 15 | #2,202 |
| 1922 | 9 | #3,125 |
| 1923 | 22 | #1,668 |
| 1924 | 28 | #1,434 |
| 1925 | 19 | #1,836 |
| 1926 | 24 | #1,539 |
| 1927 | 27 | #1,452 |
| 1928 | 40 | #1,114 |
| 1929 | 31 | #1,282 |
| 1930 | 45 | #1,029 |
| 1931 | 43 | #1,020 |
| 1932 | 40 | #1,066 |
| 1933 | 27 | #1,293 |
| 1934 | 41 | #1,014 |
| 1935 | 45 | #945 |
| 1936 | 44 | #931 |
| 1937 | 50 | #875 |
| 1938 | 49 | #903 |
| 1939 | 61 | #778 |
| 1940 | 56 | #844 |
| 1941 | 62 | #803 |
| 1942 | 80 | #719 |
| 1943 | 64 | #825 |
| 1944 | 68 | #758 |
| 1945 | 64 | #770 |
| 1946 | 85 | #705 |
| 1947 | 111 | #656 |
| 1948 | 87 | #720 |
| 1949 | 102 | #679 |
| 1950 | 123 | #622 |
| 1951 | 104 | #684 |
| 1952 | 120 | #640 |
| 1953 | 157 | #569 |
| 1954 | 171 | #558 |
| 1955 | 175 | #556 |
| 1956 | 194 | #540 |
| 1957 | 213 | #531 |
| 1958 | 205 | #539 |
| 1959 | 208 | #542 |
| 1960 | 242 | #510 |
| 1961 | 242 | #512 |
| 1962 | 281 | #475 |
| 1963 | 360 | #423 |
| 1964 | 429 | #384 |
| 1965 | 489 | #345 |
| 1966 | 621 | #296 |
| 1967 | 771 | #260 |
| 1968 | 716 | #276 |
| 1969 | 827 | #253 |
| 1970 | 1,117 | #222 |
| 1971 | 1,200 | #202 |
| 1972 | 1,248 | #189 |
| 1973 | 1,302 | #180 |
| 1974 | 1,654 | #148 |
| 1975 | 1,718 | #144 |
| 1976 | 1,937 | #135 |
| 1977 | 2,287 | #119 |
| 1978 | 2,172 | #117 |
| 1979 | 2,553 | #107 |
| 1980 | 2,909 | #104 |
| 1981 | 2,929 | #101 |
| 1982 | 3,576 | #83 |
| 1983 | 3,665 | #77 |
| 1984 | 3,794 | #78 |
| 1985 | 3,999 | #78 |
| 1986 | 3,714 | #85 |
| 1987 | 3,924 | #81 |
| 1988 | 4,315 | #77 |
| 1989 | 4,948 | #68 |
| 1990 | 5,460 | #70 |
| 1991 | 5,324 | #73 |
| 1992 | 5,536 | #68 |
| 1993 | 5,399 | #70 |
| 1994 | 5,267 | #74 |
| 1995 | 5,595 | #67 |
| 1996 | 5,410 | #70 |
| 1997 | 5,210 | #70 |
| 1998 | 5,353 | #73 |
| 1999 | 5,450 | #72 |
| 2000 | 5,886 | #73 |
| 2001 | 6,084 | #70 |
| 2002 | 6,361 | #67 |
| 2003 | 6,466 | #65 |
| 2004 | 6,507 | #69 |
| 2005 | 6,688 | #68 |
| 2006 | 6,154 | #80 |
| 2007 | 6,250 | #75 |
| 2008 | 5,723 | #80 |
| 2009 | 5,807 | #73 |
| 2010 | 5,561 | #72 |
| 2011 | 5,619 | #72 |
| 2012 | 5,694 | #78 |
| 2013 | 5,432 | #80 |
| 2014 | 5,461 | #77 |
| 2015 | 5,329 | #76 |
| 2016 | 5,079 | #78 |
| 2017 | 5,033 | #76 |
| 2018 | 4,704 | #79 |
| 2019 | 4,550 | #81 |
| 2020 | 4,266 | #83 |
| 2021 | 4,300 | #81 |
| 2022 | 4,501 | #72 |
| 2023 | 4,551 | #69 |
| 2024 | 4,547 | #75 |
