Ivanna

Ivanna is the female Russian form of Ivan. In turn, Ivan is the Russian form of John. So the English equivalent to Ivanna would be names like Joanne or Joan. All of the “John” names in their various linguistic formats owe their roots to Hebrew “Yochanan” (or the Greek “Iōannēs” and the Latin “Iohannes”) which translates to “Yahweh (God) is gracious” or “God is generous”. While the name does appear in the Old Testament in reference to one of King David’s mighty men, John/Ivan owes most of its widespread popularity to two prominent New Testament figures: John the Baptist and John the Apostle. Therefore, John has traditionally been a name of great importance since early Christianity. John the Baptist (like Jesus) was born under miraculous circumstances. The angel Gabriel appeared to his father (Zechariah) claiming that God will give his barren wife (Elizabeth) a son (John) to help prepare the way for the Messiah (Jesus). “And the child grew and became strong in spirit, and lived in the wilderness until he became manifest to Israel.” [Luke 1:80]. John the Baptist had the distinction of baptizing Jesus himself in the River Jordan. John the Apostle was a fisherman, the brother of James, and a follower of Christ. He is most known as one of the authors of the four gospels of the New Testament. John’s gospel focuses on Jesus as the “Eternal One of from heaven” and is considerably more theological and philosophical than the other three gospels. John is a name with many forms: Sean (Irish), Ian (Scottish), Giovanni (Italian), Jean (French), Juan (Spanish), Johann (German), Jan (Dutch), and Ivan (Russian). It also spurred on several female forms: Joanna, Joan (English), Giovanna (Italian), Janna (German/Scandinavian), Juana (Spanish) and last but not least Ivanna (Russian). Names developed from the original Hebrew Yochanan are among the most popular throughout the Western World. Interestingly, though, Ivanna is only rarely used among Russians. Ivana with one “n” does well in other Slavic nations (particularly Croatia and Slovenia). For instance, the Czechoslovakian-born Ivana Trump only uses one “n”.