During his study at the Imperial Academy of Arts, he was known in Russian as Ivan Gaivazovsky (Иванъ Гайвазовскій in the pre-1918 spelling).
Pada saat ia belajar di Imperial Academy of Arts, ia dikenal dalam pengejaan Rusia dengan sebutan Ivan Gaivazovsky (Иванъ Гайвазовскій dalam pengejaan pra-1918).