Van

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Վան in AM Armenia and Vân in VN Vietnam.

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 20 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◐

Van is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Vietnamese surname3.5M records spelled Van25 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Vietnam, United States, Netherlands, Belgium

  Also written Vân, Vẩn, Vần, Vắn, Vãn

• a separate surname953K records spelled Van66 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Vietnam, United States, Netherlands, South Africa

  Also written Vấn, Vận, Vân, Văn, Våñ

• French surname525K records spelled Van47 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, Belgium, Netherlands, South Africa

  Languages: French, Portuguese, Catalan

  Also written Vân, Văn, Van', 'Van, Vän

• a separate surname308K records spelled Van25 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Netherlands, India, South Africa

  Also written Văn, V̋aṅ, Ván, Vân, Vaň

• Spanish surname254K records spelled Van11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Argentina, United States, Netherlands, Spain

  Also written Văn, Ván, Vän, Vân, Vañ

• Polish surname60K records spelled Van35 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Netherlands, Czechia, Poland, United States

  Languages: Polish, Czech, Slovak

  Also written Wan, Wań, Văn, Vân, Váň

129 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●

Van 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 English, A covered motor vehicle used to carry goods or (normally less than ten) persons, usually roughly cuboid in shape, Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and longer and higher than a car but relatively smaller than a truck/lorry or a bus.

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

• In Dutch, of (possession, property)

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

• In French, a winnowing basket

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

• In Vietnamese, to beg, to implore

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

• In Swedish, Van kan ha olika ursprung. Det är det vanligaste vietnamesiska mellannamnet för män och betyder då ’litteratur; bildning’. Det är också en kortform av → Ivan, som för den nordirländske sångaren och kompositören Van Morrison (f. 1945), eller Evan. Van förekommer även som kvinnonamn, möjligen en smekform till → Vanessa.

  as a name·Förnamn i Sverige. Kortfattat namnlexikon

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) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Cao Yub. 1910CNnot in their usual nameChinese writer (1910-1996)
• Van Tien Dungb. 1917VNGeneral of the Vietnam People's Army (1917-2002)
• Bobby Vanb. 1928USAmerican actor and game show host (1928-1980)
• Marina de Vanb. 1971FRFrench film director, screenwriter and actress
• James Wanb. 1977MYnot in their usual nameMalaysian-Australian filmmaker (born 1977)
• Wan Qianb. 1982CNnot in their usual nameChinese actress and singer
• Wen Muyeb. 1985CNnot in their usual nameChinese film director
• Jessika Vanb. 1985USAsian American actress
• Janice Manb. 1988CNnot in their usual nameHong Kong actress and model
• Wen Junhuib. 1996CNnot in their usual nameChinese actor, singer, model and dancer

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 · 783 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Van?

We estimate roughly 21 thousand people bear Van (counting its spellings and scripts) across 14 countries in our records.

In which country does Van have the most bearers?

Van is most frequently recorded in the Netherlands, where it is most often spelled van.

How common is Van compared with other names?

In the Netherlands, Van is the most common surname of 286,284 surnames recorded there.

What does the name Van mean?

Recorded meaning: Short form of Ivan or Evan, as in the case of the American film actor Van Heflin (1910-71), born Emmett Evan Heflin and the Irish folk singer Van Morrison (b.