Given name & surname
Kwan
“of a bold character”
Kwan is used as a given name and a surname. One Korean interpretation is “of a bold character.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One Korean interpretation is “of a bold character.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is Korean.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1969. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Kwan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 564
- 537 boys · 27 girls
- Most popular year
- 1976
- 25 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #10,253 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −72%
- Cooling
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,253 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 21 in 1975. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 1,853 as a first name in 2020; 8,373 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.
Kwan’s family of names
Kwan has a related form in Kwvon. In English usage, Kwan as a surname has a related form in Quan. In English usage, Kwan as a surname has a related form in KUAN.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Quanvariant · English
- Kuanvariant · English
- Quonvariant · English
- Kwonvariant · English
- Kwannlikely variant
- Qwanvariant · English
- Kwvonvariant
- Qwonvariant · English
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Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 4
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Kwan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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