Chan
Chan is a name with a single cultural origin: Khmer.
- Khmer
Meaning & Origin of Chan
What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.
Chan is a name with a single cultural origin: Khmer.
Origin data from Behind the Name .
Cultural Origins (via Behind the Name)
- Khmer
The Story of Chan
As a girl name
Chan first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a girl name in 1956, with 6 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1983: 18 births, good for #4,108 nationwide. The 1980s were its strongest decade, accounting for roughly 55% of all recorded Chans. Its most recent appearance in the national data came in 2003 (5 births); the name has since faded from the published rankings. In total, more than 212 Chans have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1950s through the 2020s.
As a boy name
Chan first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a boy name in 1919, with 6 babies given the name that year. The name hit its high-water mark in 1986: 24 births, good for #2,290 nationwide. Its most recent appearance in the national data came in 2024 (6 births); the name has since faded from the published rankings. In total, more than 1K Chans have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1910s through the 2020s.
Popularity Over Time
Popularity by State
Variants & Related Forms of Chan
Foreign forms, alternate spellings, and nicknames that share roots with Chan. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Names that sound like Chan
Phonetically similar names — useful when Chan is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.
Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.
Frequently Asked Questions about Chan
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About the name Chan
Chan is a unisex baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1919 and has accumulated 1K births in the dataset. Chan's peak popularity came in 1986 when it ranked #2,290. Use the chart and map above to compare Chan's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.
Continue exploring
- Top names of 1986 →
- Names of the 1980s →
- Names starting with "C" →
- Browse all boy names →
- Top names of 2026 →
- Browse unisex names →
Data sources
- Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
- Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
- Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
- Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
- Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .
Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.