Given name & surname
Stan
“from the stony meadow”
In English use, Stan is a short form of Stanley. One English interpretation is “from the stony meadow.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
In English use, Stan is a short form of Stanley. One English interpretation is “from the stony meadow.”
Explained through its name family
Where it comes from
In English use, Stan is a short form of Stanley. An origin associated with Stanley is English.
Explained through its name family
How it developed
In English use, Stan is used as a shortened form of Stanley.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1914. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In English use, Stan is a short form of Stanley. The history of Stanley gives this family its wider story. Stanley’s naming history includes the use of a family name as a given name.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Stan through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 8,480
- 8,480 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 1959
- 419 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #10,534 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −34%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,534 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 34.5% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for boys was 419 in 1959. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 15,386 as a first name in 2020; 1,091 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.
Stan’s family of names
In English usage, Stan is a diminutive of Stanley. In Greek usage, Stan is a Roman-alphabet rendering of Σταν. In English usage, Stan is a short form of Stanley.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Stan has relatives in 3 languages.
4 related names in 3 languages. Point at a dot, or tab to the map and use the arrow keys.
Nicknames & forms 3
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 11
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Stantonequivalent
- Stanfordequivalent
- Staniequivalent
- 斯坦borrowing · Chinese
- Stanierequivalent
- Stanzinequivalent
- Stanojeequivalent
- Stanyequivalent
Show 3 moreShow fewer
People named Stan
- Stan LeeAmerican comic book writer, editor, publisher, and producer (1922–2018)
- Stan WawrinkaSwiss tennis player (born 1985)
- Stan LaurelEnglish actor (1890–1965)
- Stan GetzAmerican jazz saxophonist (1927–1991)
- Stan SmithAmerican tennis playerborn 1946
- Stan WinstonAmerican special effects artist (1946–2008)
- Stan KentonAmerican pianist, composer, arranger and band leader (1911-1979)
- Stan MusialAmerican baseball player (1920-2013)
- Stan RowleyAustralian sprinter (1876-1924)
Characters named Stan: Stan Smith (the animated series American Dad!).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Appears in
Similar names
If you love Stan, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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