Gordan
Masculine
Gordan is Gordon with the last vowel changed, and it is also, quite separately, a real name in Serbia and Croatia, where it means proud or dignified. The Scottish name and the Slavic one are unrelated and land on nearly the same letters, which the American record has no way of distinguishing.
How old is the name Gordan?
Gordan first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Gordan alive today was born around 1947, making them about 78 years old. About 500 people named Gordan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Gordan most popular?
Gordan peaked in 1931, reaching #1458 nationally. See the whole 1931 chart.
Where it comes from
From a Berwickshire place name becomes a clan name to Gordan
The story of Gordan
The Scottish surname has left an exclamation in British English. James Gordon Bennett the younger inherited a newspaper fortune and spent it in the most conspicuous ways available — funding an expedition to find Livingstone, sponsoring balloon and motor races, and behaving badly enough at a party to end his engagement and leave the country. His name became a mild oath, used exactly as one might say good heavens, and it is still heard in Britain by people who have no idea it belongs to anybody. It is one of a very small number of personal names that became interjections.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Scottish Gordon is a place name in Berwickshire that became a clan name and then a first name, and its own meaning is disputed. The South Slavic Gordan comes from a word meaning proud and has a common feminine, Gordana. An American record from the 1910s is far more likely to be the Scottish one respelled, but the second possibility is real and is worth knowing before anybody claims a meaning.
How the name formed
- a Berwickshire place name becomes a clan name
- Gordon used as a first name from the nineteenth century
- a newspaper heir turns the surname into an exclamation
- a South Slavic name arrives at nearly the same letters
- Gordan appears in American records in the 1910s
Related forms: Gordon · Gordan · Gordana
Pronouncing Gordan
GOR-dun
Two syllables, stress at the front, identical to Gordon in English mouths. The Serbian name puts more weight on the second syllable and gives its vowel a fuller sound.
Nicknames for Gordan
Moderate
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 193123 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1458reached in 1931
- Change vs 2004
- −45.5%6 in 2018, from 11
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.
Gordan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Gordon in English — spelling variant
- Gordan in Serbian — same name
- Gordana in Croatian — related form
Gordans among us
people named Gordan 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
Gordan 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
The trade-off
- It is read correctly at sight and needs no explanation.
- Gordy is available and works at any age.
- It has two respectable origins rather than none.
- Gordon is far commoner and this spelling will be corrected regularly.
- The two possible origins are unrelated and neither can be given as the meaning.
- It is firmly of the first half of the last century in American use.
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Gordan
Masculine
Frequently asked
- How many Gordans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 500 people named Gordan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Gordan in 2025?
- Gordan is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 boy names.
- Will my child share the name Gordan with classmates?
- Gordan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More G names
The most-given names starting with G, all years combined.
George#126 · Gary#1073 · Gregory#593 · Gerald#1204 · Gabriel#37 · Glenn#1443 · Gavin#303 · Gordon#1051
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Gordan? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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