Chan

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Chaen in IN India and Chañ in PE Peru.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 14 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Chan is also recorded as 8 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Spanish surname439K records spelled Chan19 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Mexico, United States, Philippines, Hong Kong

  Languages: Spanish, Portuguese

  Also written Chañ, Chän, Chân, Chán, Çhän

• Chinese surname251K records spelled Chan6 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia

  Also written Chân, Chán, Ch'An

• Hindi surname88K records spelled Chan18 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Hong Kong, Pakistan

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu

  Also written Chañ, Čhåñ, Çhäñ, Ćhâń, Çháñ

• a separate surname68K records spelled Chan14 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, India, China, Hong Kong

  Also written Cha-N, C-Han, Châ̕n, Chá̂n, Chān

• Vietnamese surname43K records spelled Chan17 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Vietnam, Hong Kong, United States, Malaysia

  Also written Chân, Chấn, Chán, Chẩn, Chắn

• Khmer surname42K records spelled Chan10 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Hong Kong, United States, Cambodia, China

  Also written Çháñ, Chấn, Chān, Çhan, Çhåñ

• Korean given name42K records spelled Chan30 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in South Korea, United States, Malaysia, Hong Kong

  Also written 찬희, 찬우, 찬, 찬의, 찬회

• French surname32K records spelled Chan31 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Canada, Hong Kong

  Languages: French, Catalan

  Also written Pouy, Chân, Chän, Chán, Chañ

90 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Chan is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In Chinese, nonstandard spelling of chān

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In Spanish, alternative form of chía

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In English, An IRC channel.

  as a word·kaikki.org Wiktionary extract (IPA + transliterations)

• In cdo, its ； liquor beginning to ^ clear ； a cup, a goblet. A small wine-cnp ； a shallow cup for oil ； the classifier of lamps : com" "(c'A?:" (ch(wg, a wine-cup; roix., ",A'<m〃 Jnoa W"m〃, blue flowered wiue-cup ； 、& (chiu 、chang ^khlng^ a very small wine-cup ； ^\ting (chanff、 an oil-saucer ； 、\Ung sioJa ^chang^ one lamp, cjin^ Muddy, unsettled spir-

  as a word·An Alphabetic Dictionary of the Chinese Language in the Foochow Dialect

• In Khmer, n, name of a type of rhyme in Khmer poetry. (Pa, chando ‘meter.’) laS

  as a word·Headley, Cambodian-English Dictionary, Volume I (ក-ភ)

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 92 years between 1915–2017. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Han Feib. 279CNnot in their usual nameChinese Legalist, 280–233 BCE
• Pridi Banomyongb. 1900THnot in their usual nameThai prime minister (1900-1983)
• Margaret Chanb. 1947CNChinese-Canadian physician (born 1947)
• Michael Paul Chanb. 1950USAmerican actor
• Chen Shui-bianb. 1950TWnot in their usual name10th and 11th President of Republic of China(Taiwan) (2000–2008)
• Jackie Chanb. 1954CNHong Kong actor and martial artist (born 1954)
• Joan Chenb. 1961CNnot in their usual nameChinese-American actress and director
• Steve Chenb. 1978TWnot in their usual nameChinese-American businessman
• Vanessa-Maeb. 1978SGnot in their usual nameBritish violinist
• Priscilla Chanb. 1985USAmerican pediatrician and philanthropist

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 585 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Chan?

We estimate roughly 82 thousand people bear Chan (counting its spellings and scripts) across 16 countries in our records.

In which country does Chan have the most bearers?

We estimate about 77 thousand people bear Chan in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled chan.

How common is Chan compared with other names?

In the United States, Chan is the 379th most common surname of 7,257,200 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Chan mean?

Recorded meaning: different form of Chen; or person from Chan/Zhan, a territorial area of China