Meaning & origin
A reliable meaning for Duan isn’t established in our sources yet. Rather than guess, we show what is recorded: how the name is used, how often, and the names it’s connected to.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1953. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Duan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 571
- 571 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1976
- 25 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2019. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Its largest published annual count for boys was 25 in 1976. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 950 as a first name in 2020; 3,084 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.
Duan’s family of names
In English usage, Duan as a surname shares an earlier linguistic root with Doan.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 1
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 2
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Duan
Characters named Duan: Huangfu Duan (Water Margin character).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Duan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Delvin
“a godly friend”
98% boys · 2% girls
Dameon
“one who tames or subdues others”
>99% boys
Demond
“man of the mountain”
>99% boys
Donny
“a brown-haired chief” · “ruler of the world”
>99% boys
Lucan
“a man from Lucania”
>99% boys
Rahman
“one who is full of compassion”
>99% boys
Antuan
“a flourishing man; from an ancient Roman family”
>99% boys
Darek
“the ruler of the tribe”
>99% boys