Is eye-van a legit pronunciation of Ivan?

Boy Names
1

I love [name_m]Ivan[/name_m] pronounced like eye-van but I’m not sure if this is a “real” pronunciation or if the only true one is with the ee sound. Anyways, would love any input :slight_smile:

2

Well, it’s how I pronounce it. According to Behind the Name, that is the English pronunciation for it. ee-VAHN is the Russian pronunciation. It being a Russian name, I suppose you could say that is the proper way to say it but I guess it’s different depending on where you’re from, as with a lot names.

3

There was a boy in my class in primary school called [name_m]Ivan[/name_m], and he pronounced it eye-van. It’s the only way I’ve ever heard it but I suppose either are correct.

4

I always heard it and pronounced it eye-vin. It would be hard for me to switch to eye-van.

I had to check at forvo. I need to bookmark that website.

5

I’ve only ever heard eye-vuhn

6

If you ever met grown men [name_m]Ivan[/name_m], he would probably introduce himself as EEvan, since he would probably be Russian, Serbian, Croatian…

7

I don’t think pronouncing [name_m]Ivan[/name_m] as IE-vən in English is any more incorrect than pronouncing [name_m]David[/name_m] as [name_u]DAY[/name_u]-vid rather than the Hebrew dah-VEED. It’s the accepted English pronunciation.

8

I don’t know if it’s legit or not- but when I saw [name_m]Ivan[/name_m] I automatically read it as eye-van.

9

I didn’t know you could pronounce it any other way. I have only ever heard of it said eye-vin.

10

English speakers say “eye-vin” but in most European countries it’s pronounced as “ee”. [name_m]Both[/name_m] are legit. I prefer the English pronunciation because “ee-von” (eg. tennis player Ivan Lendl) sounds too similar to the girls name Yvonne.

11

I’ve only ever heard eye-vin.

12

eye-vin is how I say it too, I just typed van since it’s how the name is spelled. I should have been more specific haha.

Thanks everyone! I just didn’t want to say I liked [name_m]Ivan[/name_m] and keep pronouncing it wrong if I was.

13

It’s the accepted English pronunciation. Should be fine.

14

I agree…

I used to work with a man named [name_m]Ivan[/name_m] (and he was NOT Russian) and he pronounced his name eye-vən.