Ian is a
Scottish name.
It is the scottish form of
John. If you look at the
German form of
John which is
Johan or
Jan with
the "J" pronounced as a "Yah" rather
than the harsher "Dj" then you can see how
John has
migrated into Ian.
The Irish version of Ian
is Sean, again you have to go back to John
and play with that in your mouth a little
to get to Sean.
In Wales it is not uncommon to see Ian
spelled with two I's
Iain, they pronounce it as, well I don't
know how to phonetically spell how
they pronounce it, but half a pint of phleghm
in your throat usually helps when trying
to pronounce Welsh.
Ian is also my real name.