Name Awesome

Yan

#2,386 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Yan has been given to 1,085 babies in the U.S. since 1971. In 2025 it ranked #2,386 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2025, with 58 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 91% boys, 9% girls all-time.

Babies named Yan, 2025

1 in 57,200

Yan over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.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 — Yan over time

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

19712025

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.

Yan: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Yan means

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

The naming story behind Yan

A separate documented entry treats Yan as a form of Greek Ioannes. 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.

One of the source’s documented entries for Yan records a meaning of beautiful, gorgeous.

A separate documented entry treats Yan as a variant of Yann. 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

Yan is used in English.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include John.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Yan is pronounced /jæn/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 986 boys were recorded with the name Yan between 1971 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 58 in 2025; its best national rank was #2,386 in 2025.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #4,131 in 2020 to #2,386 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #5,277 in 2015 to #2,386 in 2025.

In the United States, 99 girls were recorded with the name Yan between 1983 and 2017. Its highest annual count was 11 in 2000; its best national rank was #9,140 in 2000.

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 Yan?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 57,200
58 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 29,400
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,386
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
39,620 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Yan 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 39,620 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Yan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Yans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Yan was born before 2009 — so the typical Yan is around 16 today.

Median birth year
2009
About 16 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
27.2% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
74.9%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
986
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 27.2% of all recorded uses (268).

Is Yan 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
+523
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
+1,745
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+2,891
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
3.22×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
100.0%
Peak was 2025 (58)
Years since peak
Peaking now
At its all-time high
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
18.4% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,386
2025

Where Yan is used — boys

Across 1910–2025, Yan was most concentrated in Florida — about 1 in 100,000 boys, against 1 in 303,424 across all states with data. It was least common in Texas (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Florida1 in 100,000
  2. 2California1 in —
  3. 3Illinois1 in —
  4. 4New Jersey1 in —
  5. 5New York1 in —
  6. 6Texas1 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. Yan has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Where Yan is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Yan was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in — girls, against 1 in 1,786,628 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 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. Yan has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Yan around the world

Where Yan 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
    1996–2025
    #2,664
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2005–2024
    #785
    in 2024
  • France
    1912–2025
    #2,747
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #1,964
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1955–2006
    #657
    in 2006

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Central Statistics Office, 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. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Yan by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,386
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 1,745
Best rank ever
#2,386
2025
Peak year
2025
58 that year
First recorded
1971
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
986
Count in 2025
58

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#9,140
2000
Peak year
2000
11 that year
First recorded
1983
Last recorded
2017
All-time count
99
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Yan

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

YanniYannYanisEyanYancyLyanZyanYanielYannisYankyOryanCyanRiyanReyanIyanYannickAvyanKeyanRhyanYangNayanAdyanKyanDayan

Sibling names for Yan

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 Yan

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