Chan
Feminine · “Chinese Chen”
Chan is given to both — 212 girls and 1,035 boys since 1880. See Chan as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Chan entered the US charts in 1956, peaked at #3925 in 1958, is rarely given in 2025 — given to only a few children a year.
How old is the name Chan?
Chan first appears in US birth records in 1956 — 69 years ago. The typical Chan alive today was born around 1984, making them about 41 years old. About 200 people named Chan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Chan most popular?
Chan peaked in 1958, reaching #3925 nationally. See the whole 1958 chart.
Where it comes from
From Chen to Chan
The story of Chan
Chinese surname distribution is extraordinarily concentrated. The hundred commonest cover roughly eighty-five per cent of the population of over a billion people, and the top three, Wang, Li and Zhang, account for well over two hundred million between them. The classical phrase for the ordinary population, laobaixing, means the old hundred surnames. The reason is historical: surnames were adopted early, spread from a small number of clan and state names, and were not multiplied by the occupational and topographic coinage that produced the European stock. England alone has several hundred thousand surnames for a fraction of the population. A practical consequence is that Chinese naming carries its individuating information in the given name, which is usually chosen rather than inherited, while European naming does the opposite.
Meaningscholars disagree
Chinese Chen, an ancient state
Chan is the Cantonese romanisation of the surname written Chen in Mandarin, one of the most common surnames in the world, taken from the ancient state of Chen. The same spelling also serves as a short form of Chandler and Chance in American use. The peak is 1965.
How the name formed
- Chen
- Chan
Related forms: Chen · Tran · Jin
Pronouncing Chan
CHAN
One syllable. Cantonese is tonal and the tone is not written in the English spelling. Mandarin Chen is said with a different vowel.
Nicknames for Chan
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1956
- Most girls named
- 198318 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3925reached in 1958
- Change vs 2000
- −28.6%5 in 2003, from 7
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Chan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Chen in Mandarin — same name
- Tran in Vietnamese — related form
- Jin in Korean — related form
Chans among us
people named Chan are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Chan sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Chan
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Chans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Chan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Chan in 2025?
- Chan is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Chan with classmates?
- Chan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Chan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Chan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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