Dan
Meaning
judge
The story
Dan can be a complete Hebrew name, an English nickname, or an unrelated name in other languages. In Genesis, Dan is one of Jacob's sons and the ancestor of a tribe of Israel; the Hebrew name means judge. English speakers also use Dan for Daniel, whose longer Hebrew name means God is my judge. Scandinavian languages have their own established short-form use, while Chinese and Japanese names written Dan may depend on entirely different characters. The American curve is broad and steady, rising modestly through the early twentieth century, reaching its strongest point in the 1950s, and easing afterward without vanishing. That persistence comes partly from two sources at once: boys legally named Dan and generations of Daniels who use it every day. The spelling is simple; the correct origin belongs to the individual bearer, not to the four-letter shape alone.
The formal names behind Dan
Dan is an established short form of this name.
Daniel · Hebrew origin · "God is my judge," from Daniyyel, the dream-reading prophet who walked out of the lions' den; a steady classic in English since the Middle Ages and a cornerstone name across Spanish, Hebrew, and Slavic worlds alike. Dan and Danny come standard
Dan's name family
One shared root links 8 names across 3 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Daniyyel "God is my judge", the dream-reading prophet
The family
More branches
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Dan peaked in the 1950s.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
1,666 people · the #5,816 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 125,000 · median age 16
Among people named Dan living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 264 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Dan
People given the name Dan in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 1979. Age is the one thing the name won't tell you.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
The Dan deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Dan truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Dan fits with your family’s names and surname.
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