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Lan

UnisexGirls' nameBoys' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Lan has been given to 1,087 babies in the U.S. since 1972. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1982, with 47 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 71% girls, 29% boys all-time.

Babies named Lan, 2019

1 in 694,000

Lan over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
020406018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Lan over time

In 2025, Lan went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19482025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Lan: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Chinese

What Lan means

Lan has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Lan

One of the source’s documented entries for Lan records a meaning of orchid, elegant or mountain mist.

A separate documented entry treats Lan as a short form of Milan. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

Origin, language, and formation

Lan is used in Vietnamese. Its origins include Chinese.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Vietnamese, Lan is pronounced [laːn˧˧].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 769 girls were recorded with the name Lan between 1972 and 2019. Its highest annual count was 47 in 1982; its best national rank was #2,170 in 1982.

In the United States, 318 boys were recorded with the name Lan between 1948 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 19 in 1981; its best national rank was #2,543 in 1981.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Lan?

Lan had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2019, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2019
1 in 694,000
5 of 3,472,229 births
Among girls only
1 in 336,000
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2019
Unranked
Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size
481,354 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Lan sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2019 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 481,354 children born in 2019 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Lan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Lans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Lan was born before 1987 — so the typical Lan is around 38 today.

Median birth year
1987
About 38 years old
Biggest decade
1980s
43.7% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
27.6%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
769
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1980s — 43.7% of all recorded uses (336).

Is Lan 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
0%
Peak was 1982 (47)
Years since peak
43
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
38.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,170
1982

Where Lan is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Lan was most concentrated in California — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 142,285 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in 100,000
  2. 2Kansas1 in —
  3. 3Louisiana1 in —
  4. 4Texas1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Lan has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Lan is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Lan was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 1,340,977 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1California1 in —

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. Lan has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Lan around the world

Where Lan 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
    1996–2012
    #5,876
    in 2012
  • France
    1956–2000
    #4,405
    in 2000
  • Canada
    1991–2016
    #3,204
    in 2016
  • South Australia
    1968–2008
    #796
    in 2008

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Lan by the numbers

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

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#2,170
1982
Peak year
1982
47 that year
First recorded
1972
Last recorded
2019
All-time count
769
Count in 2025
Under 5

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#9,368
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#2,543
1981
Peak year
1981
19 that year
First recorded
1948
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
318
Count in 2025
8

Names similar to Lan

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

LanyaLaniaLaneaLanayLanaiLanahElanLaniahLannaLaneLanyLandriLandonLanyahMulanLanaeLanayaLaneeLandaLandynLaniNolanKylanLangley

Sibling names for Lan

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 Lan

Top names of 1982, Lan's peak yearThe 1980s in fullOther names that peaked in 1982Girls' names starting with LVietnamese Girl NamesVietnamese Names