Yan
Masculine
Yan is given to both — 986 boys and 99 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Yan is a Chinese given name whose meaning depends on the character, and it is also the Breton and Slavic form of John.
How old is the name Yan?
Yan first appears in US birth records in 1971 — 54 years ago. The typical Yan alive today was born around 2009, making them about 16 years old. About 1,000 people named Yan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Yan most popular?
Yan peaked in 2025, reaching #2363 nationally. Today it ranks #2363, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From 彦 to Yan
The story of Yan
Chinese names take their meaning from the characters chosen, not the romanised sound, so two men called Yan may carry quite different names. Separately, Breton Yann and Slavic Yan descend from John. Both routes reach American records, where the name is in current use.
Meaningscholars disagree
Not established
Several unrelated sources. Chinese Yan is written with many characters — 彦, 'accomplished'; 燕, 'swallow'; 岩, 'rock' — and the character fixes the meaning. Breton and Slavic Yan is a form of John, from the Hebrew Yochanan, 'the Lord is gracious'. Both are genuine.
How the name formed
- 彦
- Yan
Related forms: 彦 · Yann · Ян
Pronouncing Yan
YAHN
One syllable. Mandarin gives it a tone the Latin alphabet does not show.
Nicknames for Yan
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
- 1971
- Most boys named
- 202558 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2363reached in 2025
- Change vs 2024
- +31.8%58 in 2025, from 44
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.
Yan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- 彦 in Chinese — transliteration
- Yann in Breton — related form
- Ян in Russian — transliteration
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, California, New York.
Yans among us
people named Yan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 29,450 born in 2025 was named Yan
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Yan
- #2363
- Yan on the 2025 chart
- #859
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Yan went to 58 boys in 2025, but Yann is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 69, which makes it the 859th most-given boys’ name of the year — 1,504 places above the chart.
- Yan58
- Yann11
About 1 boy in 24,755 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 29,450 for Yan itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Trevell test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Yan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Trevell climbed just as high around 1992, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Trevell's path sketches the road Yan is walking now.
Yan sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Yan is headed
Yan looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 29% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Yan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Yan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- That the written character and not the sound carries the meaning is a first-rate fact.
- One syllable, clean, and never mispronounced.
- It works across Chinese, Breton and Slavic contexts.
- The Chinese meaning is invisible in the Latin alphabet.
- Mandarin tone is lost entirely in English.
- It is very short and can be swallowed by a long surname.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Yan
Masculine · #2363 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Yans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,000 people named Yan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Yan?
- Yan is the most-used spelling in US records — 58 of the 69 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Yann.
- How popular is the name Yan in 2025?
- Yan ranks #2363 among US boy names in 2025, with 58 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Yan?
- About 1 in every 29,450 US boys born in 2025 was named Yan — 58 in all.
- Will my child share the name Yan with classmates?
- Yan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Yan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Javi#2363 · Zacchaeus#2363 · Pete#2363 · Herman#2363 · Clint#2363 · Lipa#2363 · Reuven#2363 · Kyngston#2363
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Yan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Yan and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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