Iva is a Slavic feminine form of Ivan, the Slavic John, and therefore means "God is gracious"; in Croatian and Serbian it is also the word for the "willow" tree. In America it was a common name a century ago and is sometimes used as a short form of Ivana or a sister name to Ivy. Iva has stayed outside the top 1000 for decades, with a recent best of number 1672 in 2021, and ranks number 1740 among girls' names in 2025.