IVAN

Newer forma de the old Eslavo name Іѡаннъ (Ioannu), which was derived from Griego Ioannes (see JOHN). This was the name of six Ruso rulers, including the 15th-century Ivan III the Great and 16th-century Ivan IV the Terrible, the first tsar of Russia. It was also borne by nine emperors of Bulgaria. Other notable bearers include the Ruso author Ivan Turgenev (1818-1883), who wrote Fathers and Sons, and the Ruso physiologist Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936), who is best known for his discovery of the conditioned reflex.

“i-VAN (Russian), ee-VAHN (Ukrainian), EE-van (Serbian, Croatian, Slovene), IE-vən (English)”