Iancu

Iancu is a Romanian masculine name functioning as a diminutive or colloquial form of Ioan, the Romanian equivalent of John. Ioan itself descends from the Latin Iohannes, which traces back through Greek Ioannes to the Hebrew name Yochanan, meaning Yahweh is gracious. The name was borne by Iancu of Hunedoara, the 15th-century Transylvanian military commander known in Hungarian as János Hunyadi, who became a celebrated figure in Romanian history for his campaigns against the Ottomans. Related forms include Ioan, Ion, and Ionuț in Romanian, as well as John and its many European cognates.