Given name & surname · also Spanish
Chan
“a shining woman”
Chan is used as a given name, a surname, and a nickname. One Sanskrit interpretation is “a shining woman.” Its derivation is not certain.
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Sanskrit interpretation is “a shining woman.” Its derivation is not certain.
Where it comes from
This spelling has been associated with Sanskrit and Spanish naming traditions. The precise derivation is uncertain.
How it developed
Chan is used as a form of John.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1919. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Chan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 1,247
- 1,035 boys · 212 girls
- Most popular year
- 1982
- 38 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #9,885 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −40%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 9,885 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 5,500 as a first name in 2020; 81,431 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Chan’s family of names
In Filipino usage, Chan as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with Chang. Chan is a form of John. In Breton usage, Chan has a conventional equivalent in the French form Jean.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Chan has relatives in 8 languages. Lines run from its Sanskrit roots to each of them.
16 related names in 8 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 13
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 12
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Johnbase name
- JeanFrench
- Candoublet · Indonesian
- Trandoublet · English
- Changdoublet · Tagalog, ceb
- Chendoublet · Tagalog, ceb
- Tandoublet · tsg, Tagalog
- 禅equivalent
Show 4 moreShow fewer
People named Chan
- Chan SantokhiPresident of Suriname from 2020 to 20251959–2026
- Chan Ho ParkSouth Korean baseball player (1973-)
- Jung ChanSouth Korean actorborn 1971
- Heo ChanSouth Korean singerborn 1995
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Chan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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