Ian
Ian is ranked 75th among boys in 2024 (4,547 births). Its best rank was 65th, in 2003.
- Rank in 2024
- #75down 6 from 2023
- Births in 2024
- 4,5470.27% of boys
- Peak year
- 20056,688 births
- Best rank
- #65in 2003
- Since 1912
- 253,707people given the name
The story in the numbers
253,707 boys have been named Ian in the United States since 1912, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 2005, with 6,688 births — 0.33% of all boys recorded that year.
It is holding steady: its share of births has moved by less than half in either direction over ten years (rank 77 → 75).
Half of everyone given the name was born by 2001, and the 2000s alone account for 24%. It has spent 90 of 145 years in the top 1,000, 43 of them in the top 100.
Rank among boys, year by year
By decade
| Decade | boys named Ian | |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | 92 | |
| 1920s | 225 | |
| 1930s | 445 | |
| 1940s | 779 | |
| 1950s | 1,670 | |
| 1960s | 4,978 | |
| 1970s | 17,188 | |
| 1980s | 37,773 | |
| 1990s | 54,004 | |
| 2000s | 61,926 | |
| 2010s | 52,462 | |
| 2020s | 22,165 |
In 2005, its biggest year
Ian was the 68th most given boy’s name that year. The top five boys’ names of 2005 were Jacob, Michael, Joshua, Matthew and Ethan. See all of 2005.
Names that rose and fell with Ian
Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.
- Nathanaelpeak 2000
- Arikpeak 2000
- Otonielpeak 1995
- Zachariahpeak 1992
- Jairuspeak 2015
- Mathieupeak 2000
- Romelpeak 1991
- Alexandrospeak 2007
Other spellings in the data
What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.