Given name & surname
Mahan
“a cowboy”
Mahan is used as a given name and a surname. One American interpretation is “a cowboy.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One American interpretation is “a cowboy.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is American.
How it developed
From Irish Ó Macháin (“descendant of Machán”).
Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 2009. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Mahan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 101
- 101 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2019
- 12 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #10,301 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −26%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,301 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 12 in 2019. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 302 as a first name in 2020; 14,013 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.
Mahan’s family of names
Mahan has a related form in Maehan. Mahan has a related form in Maehen. Mahan has a related form in Mahahn.
Inner ring: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 9
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
- Mayhanvariant · English
- Maughanvariant · English
- Maehenvariant
- Maihenvariant
- Mayhenvariant
- Maehanvariant
- Maihanvariant
- Mahenvariant
Show 1 moreShow fewer
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Mahan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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>99% boys