Iain

Iain is a boy name of Scottish origin, meaning God is gracious.

What Iain means

God is gracious.

Iain is short — 4 letters, and ends on a consonant, which gives it a firmer stop.

Where Iain comes from

Scottish names draw on both Gaelic and Scots, and many began as clan or place names before becoming personal ones.

Iain is recorded as Scottish in origin. Browse other Scottish names.

How popular is Iain?

Iain sits outside the top 100 boy names we currently track. For many parents that is the appeal: a name with genuine history behind it that has not been picked up by everyone at once.

The character of Iain

We group Iain under faith. If that is the quality drawing you to it, the theme link below collects every other name we hold in the same group.

Themes: Faith

Names like Iain

These share Iain's themes, origin, or both — closest first.

• Malcolm — Devotee of Saint Columba.
• Declan — Full of goodness; an Irish saint.
• Ignatius — Fiery.
• Isaiah — God is salvation.
• Ivan — God is gracious.
• Makoto — Sincerity, truth.
• Abraham — Father of multitudes.
• Abram — Exalted father.
• Adil — Just and fair.
• Amadeus — Lover of God.
• Ambrose — Immortal.
• Angelo — Angel; a messenger.

More Scottish names

• Graham — Gravelly homestead.
• Jamie — Supplanter; one who follows.
• Gordon — From the great hill.
• Kenneth — Handsome; born of fire.
• Glen — From the valley.
• Knox — From the round hill.
• Ewan — Born of the yew tree.
• Lachlan — From the land of lakes.
• Duncan — Dark warrior; brown chief.
• Lennox — With many elm trees.