Iana
A feminine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 732 living Americans carry the first name Iana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Iana today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Iana births was 2023 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Iana. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Iana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
732
~ 1 in 468,244 Americans
Peak year
2023
59 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,399
Tracked since 1970
Census
Iana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,149 people with the first name Iana, which placed it at #11,266 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#11,266
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,149 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Iana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iana is White at 53.4%. The next largest groups are Black (19.3%) and Hispanic (15.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Iana described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Iana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.4% · 614
- Black or African American19.3% · 222
- Hispanic or Latino15.6% · 179
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.3% · 72
- Two or more races4.9% · 56
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 6
Popularity
Iana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Iana from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 233 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Iana remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Iana by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Iana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ianas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Iana, while New York, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Iana
Iana is a feminine given name that has its origins in the ancient Greek language. It is believed to be a variant of the name Ioanna, which is the Greek form of the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "God is gracious" or "Yahweh is merciful."
The name Iana can be traced back to the Byzantine Empire, where it was used as an alternative spelling of Ioanna. During this period, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th century, the name gained popularity among Greek-speaking Christians, particularly in the regions of modern-day Greece and Turkey.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Iana can be found in the hagiographies (biographies of saints) of the Eastern Orthodox Church. Saint Iana, also known as Joanna the Myrrhbearer, was a prominent figure in early Christianity who is mentioned in the Gospels as one of the women who followed Jesus and witnessed his crucifixion and resurrection.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Iana remained in use among Greek and Slavic populations in Eastern Europe. Notable historical figures bearing this name include Iana of Trebizond (1349-1406), a Byzantine princess and the wife of King Alexios III of Trebizond, a Greek kingdom located in modern-day northeastern Turkey.
In the 16th century, the name Iana gained popularity in Russia, where it was adopted as a Russian form of the Greek name Ioanna. One of the most famous Russian women with this name was Iana Radchenko (1538-1604), a noblewoman and the mother of Tsar Fyodor I, the last ruler of the Rurik dynasty.
Another notable figure was Iana Gur'eva (1619-1679), a Russian noble and the first wife of Tsar Alexis I. She played a significant role in the political and cultural life of the Russian Empire during her time.
In the 19th century, the name Iana was also used in various European countries, including Italy and France. One notable Italian woman with this name was Iana Boccamazza (1837-1911), a renowned painter and portraitist who was celebrated for her work in the Romantic and Realist styles.
In more recent times, the name Iana has continued to be used in various parts of the world, particularly in Eastern Europe and among Greek and Slavic communities. Some notable individuals with this name include Iana Zviahilskaya (born 1988), a Belarusian swimmer and Olympic medalist, and Iana Salenko (born 1981), a Russian figure skater and two-time Olympic champion.
People
Iana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Iana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Iana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Iana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 732 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Iana going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 468,244 US residents.
Is Iana a common name?
We classify Iana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 747 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Iana most popular?
The single biggest year for Iana was 2023, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Iana is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Iana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,149 people with the name Iana, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,266 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Iana in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Iana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Iana appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,148 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Iana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Iana is White at 53.4%. The next largest groups are Black (19.3%) and Hispanic (15.6%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Iana most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Iana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.4% (614 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Iana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Iana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Iana in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Iana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Iana in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Iana can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have Iana as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Iana on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.