IAGO (m) Welsh and Spanish form of JACOB. This was the name of the villain in Shakespeare's 'Othello'.

IAIN (m) Scottish form of JOHN

IAN (m) Modern Scottish form of JOHN

IBRAHIM (m) Arabic form of ABRAHAM

IDA (f) Form of EDITH or "work" (Teutonic). This is the name of a mountain on the island of Crete where Zeus, highest of the Greek gods, was born.

IDESTA (f) The first element is probably from Teutonic id "work".

IDRIL (f) "sparkle brilliance" (Sindarin). In the 'Silmarillion' by J. R. R. Tolkien, Idril was the daughter of Turgon, the king of Gondolin. She escaped the destruction of that place with her husband Tuor and sailed with him into the west.

IGNATIUS (m) Meaning unknown, possibly "fire" (Latin) from the Roman family name Egnatius. This was the name of several early saints, including the third bishop of Antioch who was thrown to wild beasts by emperor Trajan, and by Saint Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Jesuits.

IGOR (m) Russian form of IVOR.

IHAB (m,f) "gift" (Arabic)

IKAIA (m) Hawaiian form of ISAIAH

IKE (m) Short form of ISAAC

ILANA (f) "tree" (Hebrew)

ILEANA (f) Romanian form of HELEN

ILENE (f) Form of HELEN or form of IRENE

ILKA (f) Hungarian pet form of HELEN

ILONA (f) Hungarian form of HELEN

ILONKA (f) Hungarian form of HELEN

IMAMU (m) "spiritual leader" (African)

IMELDA (f) "entire battle" (Teutonic)

IMEN (f) "faith" (Arabic)

IMKE (f) A short form of names containing irmen "whole".

IMMANUEL (m) Form of EMMANUEL used in translations of the Old Testament. Immanual Kant was a German philosopher who held that duty was of highest importance.

IMOGEN (f) "maiden" from Gaelic inghean. A character in Shakespeare's 'Cymbeline'.

IMRE (m) Hungarian form of EMERIC. A Hungarian saint, the son of Saint Istvan.

INA (f) Short form of names ending with ina

INDIGO (m,f) "indigo" (English), from the purplish blue dye or the colour.

INDIRA (f) "beauty" (Sanskrit). This is another name of Lakshmi, the wife of the Hindu god Vishnu. Indira Gandhi was India's first female prime minister.

INDRA (m) "possessing drops of rain" (Sanskrit) from indu "a drop" and -ra "possessing". Indra is the Hindu warrior god of the sky and rain.

INDRANI (f) Ancient feminine form of INDRA

INEZ (f) Spanish form of AGNES

INGA (f) Form of INGE

INGE (m,f) Short form of German and Scandinavian names containing the element ing. Ing was the Norse fertility god.

INGHAM (m) "Angle raven" (Teutonic). The Angles were a Germanic tribe that eventually settled in England.

INGOLF (m) Probably either "Ing wolf" (Scandinavian) or "Angle wolf" (Teutonic). Ing was the Norse god of fertility. The Angles were a Germanic tribe.

INGRID (f) "Ing beautiful" (Teutonic). Ing was the Norse god of fertility. Ingrid Bergman was an actress from Sweden.

INKA (f) Frisian form of INGE

INNOKENTI (m) "innocent" (Latin). A Russian name.

IOLANA (f) "to soar" (Hawaiian) or a Hawaiian form of YOLANDA

IONA (f) Form of IONE or from the name of the island off Scotland where Saint Columba founded a monastery.

IONE (f) Either "violet" (Greek) or "from Ionia" (Greek). Ionia was a region in Asia Minor.

IRA (m) "to watch" (Hebrew). A minor character in the Old Testament.

IRENE (f,m) "peace" (Greek). Irene was the Greek goddess of peace. The Greek island of Santorini is named for Saint Ireneus, an early bishop of Lyons. Also the name of an 8th-century Byzantine empress.

IRIS (f) Either "rainbow" (Greek) or "iris" (English) from the name of the iris flower or the coloured part of the eye. Iris was the name of the Greek goddess of the rainbow.

IRMA (f) Short form of names beginning with the element irmen, which means "whole" or "universal".

IRMGARD (f) "whole guard" from Teutonic irmen meaning "whole" or "universal" and gard meaning "guard".

IRMHILD (f) "whole battle" from Teutonic irmen "whole" or "universal" and hild "battle".

IRMTRAUD (f) "whole strength" from Teutonic irmen "whole" or "universal" and trud "strength".

IRVIN (m) Form of IRVING or form of IRWIN

IRVINE (m) Form of IRVING

IRVING (m) Meaning unknown (Gaelic). From a Scottish surname which was in turn from a Scottish place name. Irving Berlin was a well-known songwriter and lyricist, who was originally from Russia but settled in the United States.

IRWIN (m) "boar friend" (Teutonic)

ISAAC (m) From the Hebrew name Yitzhak, which was from Hebrew yitshaq "laughter". Isaac in the Old Testament was the son of Abraham and the father of Jacob.

ISABEL (f) Medieval Spanish form of ELIZABETH. A queen of England has borne this name.

ISABELLA (f) Latinate form of ISABEL. Queens of Castile and Spain have had this name.

ISADOR (m) Form of ISIDORE

ISAIAH (m) "salvation of the Lord" (Hebrew). A major prophet in the Old Testament, supposedly the author of the Book of Isaiah. He was from Jerusalem and probably lived in the 8th century BC.

ISEULT (f) Form of ISOLDE

ISHBEL (f) Anglicized form of the Scottish form of ISABEL

ISHMAEL (m) "God will hear" (Hebrew). In the Old Testament he was a son of Abraham. He is the traditional ancestor of the Arabs.

ISHTAR (m) Meaning unknown. Ishtar was the Babylonian and Assyrian mother goddess who presided over love, war and fertility. She was called Astarte by the Phoenicians.

ISIDORA (f) Feminine form of ISIDORE

ISIDORE (m) "gift of Isis" from Greek Isidoros. Isis was the Egyptian moon goddess. Saint Isidore of the 6th century was a historian and theologian from Seville.

ISIS (f) Meaning unknown (Egyptian). Isis was the Egyptian goddess of the moon, nature and fertility. She is often depicted having the horns of a cow on her head.

ISOLDE (f) "beautiful" (Celtic). In Celtic legend she was an Irish princess who was the lover of Tristan.

ISRA (f) "nocturnal journey" from Arabic sara "to travel at night".

ISRAEL (m) "he who wrestles with God" (Hebrew). The biblical Israel (who was formerly called Jacob) wrestled with an angel in the Old Testament. The ancient and modern states of Israel took their names from him.

ISTVAN (m) Hungarian form of STEPHEN. Saint Istvan was the first king of the Magyars and is the patron saint of Hungary.

IVAN (m) Russian or Croatian form of JOHN. This was the name of several rulers of Moscow, including Ivan the Great and Ivan the Terrible, the first czar of Russia. Ivan Turgenev was a Russian author who wrote 'Fathers and Sons'. Ivan Pavlov was the scientist and physiologist best known for his discovery of the conditioned reflex.

IVANA (f) Feminine form of IVAN

IVANKA (f) Pet form of IVANA

IVO (m) German form of YVES

IVONNE (f) German form of YVONNE

IVOR (m) "bow warrior" (Scandinavian)

IVY (f) "ivy" (English), from the name of the climbing plant that has small yellow flowers.

IZZY (m) Short form of ISIDORE, ISAAC or ISRAEL