Boy names that start with I

Three Hebrew names carry I in the American top 100, but the letter's real range lies further out: Basque rivers, Welsh princes, Igbo sentences about God. Isaac leads the letter in the United States, with Isaiah a little behind him. Each entry links to a full page with meaning, origin, and pairings.

Most popular I names right now

Three I names hold places in the current U.S. Social Security top 100, and all three are ultimately Hebrew.

• #47IsaacEYE-zikHebrew

  He laughs, after Sarah's laughter at the promise of a son in old age. Newton and Asimov are the two bearers everyone can name.

• #57Isaiaheye-ZAY-uhHebrew

  Yahweh is salvation. The most quoted of the Hebrew prophets in the New Testament, and the source of a great deal of English idiom.

• #83IanEE-unScottish

  Yahweh is gracious; the Scottish John, from Gaelic Iain. Ian Fleming and Ian McKellen anchor it on either side.

Classic I names

• Ivanee-VAHNRussian

  God is gracious; the Russian John. Ivan IV, crowned in 1547, was the first ruler to take the title tsar of all Russia.

• IsraelIZ-ray-elHebrew

  Glossed in Genesis as he struggles with God — the name given to Jacob after a night of wrestling by the Jabbok.

• IshmaelISH-may-elHebrew

  God will hear. Abraham's firstborn, and the narrator who opens Moby-Dick with three of the best-known words in American fiction.

• Ignatiusig-NAY-shusLatin

  A Roman family name of probable Etruscan origin, with no secure meaning behind it. Ignatius of Loyola founded the Jesuits.

• IraEYE-ruhHebrew

  Traditionally glossed as watchful. Ira Gershwin wrote the words to his brother George's music.

• IrvingUR-vingScottish

  From the Scottish place and family name near the River Irvine. Irving Berlin made it sound entirely American.

• IgorEE-gorRussian

  Traditionally read as Ing's warrior, built on the Norse god-name the Rus brought east. Stravinsky is the bearer who matters.

• IvorEYE-vorWelsh

  Traditionally yew warrior, or archer. The Ivor Novello Awards are named for the Welsh composer who bore it.

I names from around the world

• Ibrahimib-rah-HEEMArabic

  Father of a multitude; the Arabic Abraham, and one of the most-given names anywhere in the Muslim world.

• Ismailis-mah-EELArabic

  God will hear. The Arabic Ishmael, and in Islamic tradition the son Abraham was asked to give up.

• Imranim-RAHNArabic

  The father of Maryam in the Qur'an; the third sura is named for his family, Al-Imran.

• IchiroEE-chee-rohJapanese

  First son, written 一郎. The baseball player Ichiro Suzuki made the name legible far outside Japan.

• ItsukiEE-tsoo-keeJapanese

  A standing, living tree — the sense of 樹, the character almost every Itsuki is written with.

• Ishaanee-SHAHNSanskrit

  Ruler, lord, master. Also an epithet of Shiva, who in that aspect guards the north-eastern quarter.

• Ifeanyiee-feh-AH-nyeeIgbo

  Nothing is impossible; in full, nothing is too hard for God. Igbo names are sentences before they are labels.

• Ikennaee-KEN-nahIgbo

  The father's strength — what a son is held to inherit, stated without ornament.

• Idowuee-DOH-wooYoruba

  The child born immediately after twins. Yoruba keeps a name for each position in that sequence.

• IssaEE-sahSwahili

  The Arabic and Swahili name of Jesus, and an ordinary given name up and down the East African coast.

• Illiaeel-LYAUkrainian

  My God is Yahweh; the Ukrainian Elijah, and a steady favourite in Kyiv birth registers.

• IstvánISHT-vahnHungarian

  Crown, from Greek stephanos. Stephen I, Hungary's first king and its patron saint, keeps the name permanently in use.

Basque and Welsh I names

• Ibaiee-BYEBasque

  River. Basque takes names straight from the landscape and does not dress them up.

• IkerEE-kehrBasque

  To seek out; to investigate. A modern Basque name, carried worldwide by the goalkeeper Iker Casillas.

• Imanolee-mah-NOLBasque

  God with us — the Basque form of Emmanuel, and a common enough name in Gipuzkoa.

• ÍñigoEE-nyee-gohBasque

  The Castilian form of Basque Eneko. Ignatius of Loyola was christened Íñigo and used that name for most of his life.

• Iñakiee-NYAH-keeBasque

  The Basque form of Ignatius, and by extension the Basque country's own saint's name.

• IdrisID-rissWelsh

  Ardent lord in Welsh; separately, a prophet named in the Qur'an. Cadair Idris in Eryri is the giant's chair.

• IestynYES-tinWelsh

  Just, fair — the Welsh Justin. Iestyn ap Gwrgant was the last native ruler of Morgannwg.

• IeuanYAY-anWelsh

  Yahweh is gracious. One of several Welsh Johns, standing alongside Ifan and Ianto.

• IfanEE-vanWelsh

  Yahweh is gracious, and the Welsh form that English reshaped into Evan.

Unique I names

• Ikaikaee-KY-kahHawaiian

  Strong, powerful, forceful. The Hawaiian word for strength, used as a name without alteration.

• Imhotepim-HOH-tepAncient Egyptian

  He who comes in peace. Djoser's architect in the Third Dynasty, later worshipped as a god of medicine.

• Itzcóatleets-KOH-atlNahuatl

  Obsidian serpent: a snake with a blade's edge. The Mexica ruler who built the alliance we now call the Aztec Empire.

• IlmariEEL-mah-reeFinnish

  From ilma, air or sky. Short for Ilmarinen, the Kalevala smith who forged the vault of the heavens.

• IngvarING-varNorse

  Ing's warrior, from the name of the Norse fertility god. The V in IKEA is Ingvar Kamprad.

• IvarEE-varNorse

  Probably bow warrior, from the yew that Norse bows were cut from.

• Isaganiee-sah-GAH-neeFilipino

  Usually read as a bountiful harvest. A young idealist in Rizal's El Filibusterismo carries it.

• Iagoee-AH-gooBrazilian

  A Portuguese form of James, and separately the Welsh one. Shakespeare's villain has not dented its popularity in Brazil.

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Two other ways through the same names: by origin, or by meaning.