Ivo is a masculine given name, in use in various European languages (especially in Italian). The name used in western European languages originates as a Normannic name recorded since the High Middle Ages, and the French name Yves is a variant of it. The unrelated South Slavic name is a variant of the name Ivan (John).
The name is recorded from the High Middle Ages among the Normans of France and England (Yvo of Chartres, born c. 1040). The name's etymology may be either Germanic or Celtic, in either case deriving from a given name with a first element meaning "yew" (Gaulish Ivo-, Germanic Iwa-). The name may have been spread by the cult of Saint Ivo (d. 1303), patron saint of Brittany.
The Slavic name is a hypocorism, like its variant Ivica.
Ivo has the genitive form of "Ives" in the place name St Ives. In France, the usual variation of the name is Yves. In the Hispanic countries of Latin America, the name is commonly spelled Evo.
Feminine equivalents of the name include Iva, Eva, and Yvette, amongst others.
Saint Ivo of Chartres, French bishop and confessor
Saint Ivo of Kermartin, Breton advocate for the poor
Saint Ivo of Ramsey, Cornish bishop
Ivo Taillebois, Huscarl of William the Conqueror
Ivo de Grandmesnil, English crusader
Ivo Andrić, Nobel prize winner, Serbo-Croatian writer
Ivo Bligh, 8th Earl of Darnley, England cricket captain
Ivo Caprino, Norwegian filmmaker
Ivo Graham, British comedian
Ivo Gregurević, Croatian actor
Ivo Goldstein, Croatian historian
Ivo Josipović, 3rd president of Croatia
Ivo Karlović, Croatian tennis player
Ivo Linna, Estonian singer
Ivo Livi (birth name of Yves Montand), Italian-born French actor and singer
Ivo Malec, Croatian composer and conductor
Ivo Minář, Czech tennis player
Ivo Opstelten, Dutch minister
Ivo Papazov, Bulgarian clarinetist
Ivo Peters, British Railway photographer
Ivo Petrić, Slovenian composer
Ivo Pitanguy, Brazilian plastic surgeon
Ivo Pogorelić, Croatian pianist
Ivo Robić, Croatian singer and songwriter
Ivo Rodrigues (runner) (born 1960), Brazilian marathon runner
Ivo Rodrigues (footballer) (born 1995), Portuguese footballer
Ivo Ron, Ecuadorian footballer
Ivo Sanader, Croatian politician
Ivo Stourton, English author
Ivo Strejček, Czech politician
Ivo Tijardović, Croatian composer
Ivo van Hove (born 1958), Belgian theatre director
Ivo Vojnović, Croatian and Serbian writer
Ivo Watts-Russell, English musician and producer, founder of 4AD record label
Ivo Widlak, Polish journalist
Dr. Ivo Robotnik, also known by the alias Dr. Eggman, the main antagonist of the Sonic the Hedgehog video game series
Professor Ivo, a villainous scientist in DC Comics and opponent of the Justice League of America
Ivo Shandor, the eccentric designer of the building where the Ghostbusters confront Gozer and its minions
Ivo Salvini, main character in Federico Fellini's last film The Voice of the Moon, played by Roberto Benigni
Ivo Sackett, father of Barnabas Sackett. Barnabas is the main character of two books by Louis L'amour (Sackett's Land and To the Far Blue Mountains).
