Ian, the Anglicized form of the Gaelic name Iain, is derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious." It's essentially from the same line of names that John comes from. Ian first appeared in the Social Security Administration's top 1,000 for boy names in 1935, but didn't crack the top-200 until 1972. It has now been a top-100 boy's name every year since 1982 and is more common than its close relatives Ivan and Izan.
