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Athan

#2,678 in 2025Boys' name

Short form of Athanasios

Athan has been given to 2,173 babies in the U.S. since 1917. In 2025 it ranked #2,678 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2012, with 123 recorded.

Babies named Athan, 2025

1 in 69,100

Athan over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Athan: meaning, origin, and history

Short form of Athanasios

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Athan means

Athan is a short form of Athanasios.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Athan → Athanasios → Αθανάσιος → Ἀθανάσιος. The family’s meaning is “to die”, recorded in Ancient Greek with the source elements thnēískō.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Perhaps from Nathan, via rebracketing of "my Nathan" as "mine Athan"; compare Ned, derived from Ed via rebracketing in the opposite direction.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Athan (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Athan is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Athanasios.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 2,173 boys were recorded with the name Athan between 1917 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 123 in 2012; its best national rank was #1,367 in 2012.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,294 in 2020 to #2,678 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,718 in 2015 to #2,678 in 2025.

How common is Athan?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 69,100
48 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 35,600
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,678
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
47,874 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Athan sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 47,874 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Athan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Athans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Athan was born before 2012 — so the typical Athan is around 13 today.

Median birth year
2012
About 13 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
43.0% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
85.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
2,151
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 43.0% of all recorded uses (935).

Is Athan rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−363
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−384
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−960
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.53×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
39.0%
Peak was 2012 (123)
Years since peak
13
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
12.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#1,367
2012

Spellings of Athan

Athan is not the most common spelling — Nathan is, with 30.5% against Athan's 0.11%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Athan is used

Across 2016–2025, Athan was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 14,286 boys, against 1 in 21,819 across all states with data. It was least common in New Jersey (1 in 100,000).

17 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 14,286
  2. 2Texas1 in 14,286
  3. 3Florida1 in 20,000
  4. 4New York1 in 33,333
  5. 5North Carolina1 in 50,000
  6. 6Georgia1 in 100,000
  7. 7Illinois1 in 100,000
  8. 8New Jersey1 in 100,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Athan around the world

Where Athan ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2003–2025
    #3,684
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2001–2024
    #3,231
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1980–2012
    #771
    in 2012

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Athan by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,678
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 384
Best rank ever
#1,367
2012
Peak year
2012
123 that year
First recorded
1917
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
2,173
Count in 2025
48

Names similar to Athan

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

AtharvAthenYohanIshanRehanEshanSohanFarhanAtharvaRoshanJahanDathanJathanZohanGohanAahanEathanVihanLathanEythanKishanChanOrhanRayhan

Names with a curve like Athan

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Athan, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

JarielGraydenJayvenDraydenTyceAbdirahmanFischerLeytonAnshFilipKorbenBrighton

Sibling names for Athan

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Athan

Top names of 2012, Athan's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2012Boys' names starting with A