iaan

Iaan is primarily a given name used in Dutch- and Afrikaans-speaking communities as a variant of Ian, itself derived from Iain, a Gaelic form of John. The spelling with double a reflects Dutch and Afrikaans naming conventions, and the name is typically male, though practices vary by culture.

The etymology of Iaan traces to Iain, a Scottish Gaelic form of John, which in turn comes from the Latin Ioannes. Over time, different languages produced various spellings, and Iaan emerged as one of the orthographic variants used in the Dutch-influenced naming sphere.

Geographically, Iaan is most commonly found in the Netherlands, Belgium, and South Africa, where Afrikaans-speaking communities have helped popularize this spelling. Outside these regions, the name is much less common, though individuals with the name may be present in multilingual or immigrant communities.

In uppercase form, IAAN is sometimes encountered as an acronym or initialism unrelated to the personal name, used by different organizations or concepts depending on the context. There is no single, universally recognized meaning for IAAN.

See also: Iain, Ian, Ean, Ianne.