Ian

Did you know?

A few things about Ian you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Ian

Ian McKellen

British actor (born 1939)

Choose Ian and your child shares a first name with Ian McKellen, a British actor. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Ian, like who?” Ian McKellen's Wikipedia article is available in 91 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Ian McKellen on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Raph_PH, CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 435 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Ian, 3,924 babies in all. In a school of 500 kids, there'd probably be one other Ian.
• 📜HistoryIan first shows up in US birth records in 1912, the first year at least 5 babies got it. It has been in use for 113 years since.
• 🏆Best yearIts best year was 2003, when it reached #65.
• 📍Where it's lovedIan is most popular in New Jersey, where it ranks #50, followed by Maryland (#55) and New Mexico (#62). It makes the top 1,000 in almost every state.
• 💬MeaningIan is a Scottish form of John, which means “God is gracious”. Our records link it to Celtic, Gaelic and Hebrew roots.
• 🌍OriginIan is the #7 most popular Celtic boy name in the US. That's out of 542 Celtic boy and unisex names in our list.

About the name Ian

Ian is a boy name of Celtic, Gaelic and Hebrew origin meaning “God is gracious”. It has 3 letters and 1 syllable, starting with I and ending in “-ian”. US birth records list Ian for boys from 1912 to 2025, in 114 of those 114 years. Its best year was 2003, when it ranked #65 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #83, with 3,924 babies.

Origin:Celtic namesGaelic namesHebrew namesScottish names