Boy Names That Start with I

I names for boys are fewer than most letters, but they carry a strong sense of history. Isaac is a Hebrew name meaning he will laugh, borne by one of the patriarchs in Genesis, and Issac is a familiar variant spelling. Isaiah was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible, and his name appears here in several forms, including Izaiah, Isiah and the Spanish Isaias. Israel is both a biblical name and the name of a people.

The letter also crosses many cultures. Ian is the Scottish form of an old Hebrew name, and Ivan is its Slavic counterpart. Ibrahim is the Arabic form of the name of the great patriarch, and Ismael is a Spanish form of a Hebrew name meaning God hears. Iker is a Basque name, Ignacio is a Spanish name with Latin roots, and Isai is a Spanish form of a Hebrew name. Ishaan comes from Sanskrit and is popular in Indian families.

The main challenge with I names is spelling, since several of them have close variants that are easy to confuse. Decide which spelling you want and expect to repeat it now and then. Also note that most start with a long i or a short i sound, and that vowel start can blend into surnames that also begin with a vowel.