The name is common among
Russians,
Ukrainians,
Belarusians,
Bulgarians,
Croats,
Slovenes,
Macedonians,
Serbs,
Bosnians,
Montenegrins, and to a smaller extent
Czechs and
Slovaks. Ivan is the most common male name in
Bulgaria (as of 2013) and
Croatia (as of 2013). In Serbia, it was the 9th most common male name in the period of 1971–1980; 6th in 1981–1990; 9th in 1991–2000. It is also the 6th most common name in Slovenia. In Croatia, with over thirty thousand namesakes, the name Ivan was the most popular between 1930 and 1940, and waned in popularity from 2003 to 2013. The name Ivan was the most common masculine given name until 1959, and between 1980 and 1999. Since the 20th century, it is becoming more popular in the
Romance-speaking world;
Italian (both the original form and the italianized version,
Ivano),
Spanish (as
Iván), and
Portuguese (sometimes
Ivã).
Ivan (pl.
die Ivans) was also occasionally used by various parties during
World War II as a general name for the
Soviets. ==Forms==