Iven is a male given name. It is a
diminutive variation of the names
Ivo and Yvo and is also the
Breton form of
Evan. It is closely related to the names Ivon, Yvon, Ive, Ives, and
Yves. As a surname, it appears as
Ivens, meaning "Iven's son".[1]
The name has two different meanings and etymologies:
When derived from continental Celtic, it would be translated with "
yew". A variation on this are the given name Yves, common in France, as well as the Welsh Evan. The translation of the Celtic version of Evan to "Young Warrior" and the alternate meaning of "Bow" or "Archer"[1] suggest a connection to the
English longbow most often made from yew.
When derived from the Slavic languages, it is related to
Ivan—itself a derivative of
Johannes, the English
John—and means "Yahweh is gracious". In this derivation, the Welsh Evan and the Scottish Ewan also have the same meaning.
This page or section lists people that share the same
given name. If an
internal link led you here, you may wish to change that link to point directly to the intended article.