Ion (name)

Ion is a masculine given name. The written form corresponds to two names that are different and unrelated in origin.

The first is the Greek name Ἴων (Iōn), after the mythical founder of the Ionians; the modern (demonic) Greek equivalent is Ionas.

The second name is the Romanian Ion which is equivalent to the English name John and has the same etymology as "Jon", all tracing back to the Hebrew Bible name Johanan. Another variant is Ioan, the Romanian name for John the Baptist (Ioan Botezătorul). Common diminutives are Ionel and Ionuț. Its female form is Ioana. The surname Ionescu is derived from Ion. However, Ion can also be a surname in Romanian. The "Ion" spelling is also used as a male forename in the Basque language, again as a cognate of "John" and sometimes used interchangeably with "Jon".

Ion as a given name

Ion of Chios (c. 490/480–c. 420 BC), Greek writer, dramatist, lyric poet and philosopher
Ion Agârbiceanu (1882–1963), Romanian writer and priest
Ion Ansotegi (born 1982), Spanish footballer
Ion Andreescu (1850–1882), Romanian painter
Ion Antonescu (1882–1946), Romanian soldier, authoritarian politician and convicted war criminal
Ion Aramendi (born 1977), Spanish basketballer
Ion Barbu (disambiguation)
Ion C. Brătianu (1821–1891), Romanian statesman
Ion I. C. Brătianu (1864–1927), Romanian politician, five-term Prime Minister of Romania, son of Ion C. Brătianu
Ion Budai-Deleanu (1760–1820), Romanian scholar, philologist, historian, and poet
Ion Călugăru (1902–1956), Romanian novelist, short story writer, journalist and critic
Ion Luca Caragiale (1852–1912), Wallachian-born Romanian playwright, short story writer, poet, theater manager, political commentator and journalist
Ion Caramitru (1942–2021), Romanian actor, stage director and politician
Ion Codreanu (1891–1960), Romanian general in World War II
Ion Constantinescu (1896–?), Romanian general in World War II
Ion Creangă (1837 or 1839–1889), Moldavian, later Romanian writer, raconteur and schoolteacher
Ion Dolănescu (1944–2009), Romanian singer and politician
Ion Dragalina (1860–1916), Romanian First World War general
Ion Dragoumis (1878–1920), Greek diplomat, philosopher, writer and revolutionary
Ion Druță (born 1928), Moldovan writer
Ion G. Duca (1879–1933), assassinated Prime Minister of Romania
Ion Echaide (born 1988), Spanish footballer
Ion Farris (1878–1934), American politician and attorney
Ion Foti (1887–1946), Romanian poet
Ion Emanuel Florescu (1819–1893), Romanian general, twice briefly Prime Minister of Romania
Ion Garmendia (born 1979), Spanish musician
Ion Ghica (1816–1897), Romanian revolutionary, mathematician, diplomat and politician, five-time prime minister of Romania
Ion Gigurtu (1886–1959), Romanian politician, officer, engineer and industrialist, briefly Prime Minister of Romania
Ion Hamilton, 1st Baron HolmPatrick (1839–1898), Anglo-Irish Member of Parliament
Ion Llewellyn Idriess (1890–1979), a prolific and influential Australian author
Ion Iliescu (born 1930), twice president of Romania
Ion Inculeț (1884–1940), Bessarabian politician and President of the Moldavian Democratic Republic
Ion Ionescu de la Brad (1818–1891), born Ion Isăcescu, Moldavian, later Romanian revolutionary, agronomist, statistician, scholar and writer
Ion Ionuț Luțu (born 1975), Romanian footballer
Ion Izagirre (born 1989), Spanish cyclist
Ion Jalea (1887–1983), Romanian sculptor
Ion Jinga (born 1961), Romanian diplomat
Ion Luchianov (born 1981), Moldovan athlete
I. C. Massim (1825–1877), linguist and a founding member of the Romanian Academy
Ion Gheorghe Maurer (1902–2000), Romanian communist politician and lawyer
Ion Mihalache (1882–1963), Romanian agrarian politician
Ion Mincu (1852–1912), Romanian architect, engineer, professor and politician
Ion Minulescu (1881–1944), Romanian avant-garde poet, writer, journalist, literary critic and playwright
Ion Miu (born 1955), Romanian musician
Ion Moța (1902—1937), Romanian nationalist, deputy leader of the Iron Guard
Ion Negoițescu (1921–1993), Romanian literary historian, critic, poet, novelist and memoirist
Ion Nistor (1876–1962), Romanian historian and politician
Ion Ion (footballer) (born 1954), Romanian former footballer
Ion Mihai Pacepa (1928–2021), Romanian security police three-star general who defected to the United States
Ion Perdicaris (1840–1925), Greek-American playboy who was the centre of a notable kidnapping known as the Perdicaris incident
Ion Heliade Rădulescu (1802–1872), Wallachian, later Romanian academic, Romantic and Classicist poet, writer, newspaper editor and politician
Ion A. Rădulescu-Pogoneanu (1870–1945), Romanian pedagogue
I. M. Rașcu (1890–1971), Romanian poet, cultural promoter, comparatist and schoolteacher
Ion Roată (1806–1882), Moldavian, later Romanian peasant and politician
Ion Sân-Giorgiu (1893–1950), Romanian poet, dramatist, essayist, literary and art critic, journalist, academic and politician
Ion Dezideriu Sîrbu (1919–1989), Romanian philosopher, novelist, essayist and dramatist
Ion Șiugariu (1914–1945), Romanian poet
Ion Tănăsescu (chemist) (1892–1959)
Ion Tănăsescu (surgeon) (1875–1954)
Ion Testemițanu (born 1974), Moldovan former footballer and current assistant manager of the Moldovan national football team
Ion Țiriac (born 1939), Romanian businessman and former tennis player
Ion Trewin (1943–2015), British editor and author
Ion Țuculescu (1910–1962), Romanian painter
Ion Țurai (1907–1970), Romanian surgeon
Ion Vélez (born 1985), Spanish footballer
Ion Voinescu (1929–2018), Romanian football goalkeeper

Ion as a surname

Barry Ion (born 1941), Australian rules footballer and radio personality
Corneliu Ion (born 1951), Romanian sports shooter and 1980 Olympic champion
Ion Ion (footballer) (born 1954), Romanian former footballer
Jo Jo Dan (Ionuț Dan Ion, born 1981), Romanian boxer
Patrick Ion (born 1942), American mathematician
Sue Ion (born 1955), British engineer, advisor on the nuclear power industry

Ion (name)

Ion as a given name

Ion as a surname

See also