Van
Meaning
surname element meaning 'of/from', also used as a nickname for Vance or Evan
A different name at this address
Vân is a Vietnamese girl name meaning “cloud”. It shares this page address because accents fold in web addresses, but it is a different name, not another root or spelling of Van.
Văn is a Vietnamese boy name meaning “literary, cultured; written Văn. The traditional masculine middle name (Nguyễn Văn Nam), counterpart to the feminine Thị; on US paperwork it often surfaced as a de facto first name, and it stuck easily because Van already existed as an American name. Distinct from the feminine given name Vân, cloud”. It shares this page address because accents fold in web addresses, but it is a different name, not another root or spelling of Van.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Van peaked in the 2010s and the 2020s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
583 people · the #12,038 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 333,333 · median age 32
Among people named Van living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1990s than in any other decade.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Van
People given the name Van in the United States span the generations: the middle half were born anywhere from 1950 to 2019. 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 Van deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Van 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 Van fits with your family’s names and surname.
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