Ian

The Scottish form of John, itself from the Hebrew Yochanan meaning God is gracious — the same root that branches into Seán in Ireland, Ivan in Russia, Johannes in Germany. Ian is the version Robert Burns would have heard shouted across a glen. Ian Fleming wrote James Bond; Ian McKellen put on Gandalf's gray robes; Ian Curtis haunted the post-punk 1980s from a Manchester bedroom. The name crossed to America in the 1970s and has held a quiet top-hundred spot for half a century. It currently ranks 75 and is given to about one in 377 boys. One syllable in most mouths, two in a careful one, all Celtic.