San

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Santu in IN India, FI Finland, BD Bangladesh and 1 more, Sal in US United States, สัณห์ in TH Thailand and Sani in NG Nigeria.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 18 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◐

San is also recorded as 4 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• English surname257K records spelled San90 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Caribbean Netherlands

  Languages: English, Dutch, German

  Also written Saen, Şan, Sän, Sán, Sañ

• French surname32K records spelled San12 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Spain, Senegal, Türkiye

  Also written Şan, Sãn, Sàn, Säñ, Sän

• a separate surname23K records spelled San15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye, China

  Also written Şan, Šan, Šān, Sạn, Sãṅ

• Turkish surname15K records spelled San29 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Türkiye, Azerbaijan, Cyprus, Switzerland

  Languages: Turkish, Azerbaijani

  Also written Şan, Sán, Sãń, Şäñ, Schaan

87 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●

San 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 Italian, do lat. sanctus; forma que precede nomes de santos

  as a name·Dicionário dos sobrenomes italianos

• Agni (V); Indra (V); GaneSa (N); Krsna (0); Siva

  as a name·Sunama Sarit (Hindi) Ten Thousand Sanskrit Names

• In German, meaning uncertain

  as a name·Deutsche Namenkunde: Unsere Familiennamen nach ihrer Entstehung und Bedeutung

• In Akan, 11, adv. quietly, pleasantly; ne ba bo ue bo s., her child rests peaceftdly on her bosom

  as a word·Dictionary of the Asante and Fante Language called Tshi (Chwee, Twi)

• In cdo, Read aching; used in the Paik、 J)xg for the coll. ； sang : the sky clear-

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

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●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 99 years between 1911–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• John Bunyanb. 1628GBnot in their usual nameEnglish Christian writer and preacher (1628-1688)
• John Adamsb. 1735USnot in their usual nameFounding Father, U.S. president from 1797 to 1801 (1735–1826)
• John Quincy Adamsb. 1767USnot in their usual namePresident of the United States from 1825 to 1829
• Aung Sanb. 1915MMBurmese revolutionary leader (1915-1947)
• John Updikeb. 1932USnot in their usual nameAmerican novelist, poet (1932–2009)
• John McCainb. 1936USnot in their usual nameAmerican politician (1936–2018)
• Thomas J. Sargentb. 1943USnot in their usual nameAmerican economist (born 1943)
• John Grishamb. 1955USnot in their usual nameAmerican writer (born 1955)
• John Robertsb. 1955USnot in their usual nameChief Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States since 2005
• John Cusackb. 1966USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor, producer, and screenwriter (born 1966)

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 · 559 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name San?

We estimate roughly 8.6 thousand people bear San (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does San have the most bearers?

San is most frequently recorded in Peru, where it is most often spelled san.

What does the name San mean?

Recorded meaning: financial, temporal-savings scheme; the participants periodically contribute a quota to a communal pot that is given to one member, based on his/her turn amongst all the others