Chan
A diminutive form of the Korean surname Chan and Chinese surname Chen.
Name Census estimates that about 1,084 living Americans carry the first name Chan. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 82.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Chan today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Chan births was 1982 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Chan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Chan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 316,194 Americans
Peak year
1982
38 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,143
Tracked since 1919
Census
Chan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,495 people with the first name Chan, which placed it at #3,697 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,697
National first-name rank
People counted
5.5K
5,495 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
84.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Chan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.7%. The next largest groups are White (7.8%) and Black (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Chan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Chan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander84.7% · 4,653
- White7.8% · 427
- Black or African American4.5% · 249
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 87
- Two or more races1.1% · 61
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 18
Gender
Gender distribution for Chan
Chan leans heavily male at 82.9% of total registrations, but 212 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Chan as a male name
- Ranked #11,143 in 2024
- 6 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1986 (24 births)
Chan as a female name
- Ranked #16,250 in 2003
- 5 female births in 2003
- Peak: 1983 (18 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chan on both sides of the split. Of the 5,500 people counted with this name, 3,513 were male (63.9%) and 1,987 were female (36.1%).
Popularity
Chan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Chan from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 315 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Chan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Chan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Chans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Kansas, Texas recorded the most babies named Chan, while Texas, Kansas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Chan
The name Chan has its origins in various Asian cultures and languages, tracing back centuries. In Chinese, the name is written as 陳 (Chén) and is derived from an ancient family name that dates back to the Spring and Autumn period (771-476 BC). The name is believed to have originated from the state of Chen, a small feudal state during the Zhou Dynasty.
Chan is also a common name in Korea, where it is transcribed as 찬 (Chan). In Korean, the name is thought to have been derived from the Chinese name and was likely introduced during periods of cultural exchange between the two countries.
In India, Chan is a variation of the Sanskrit name Chandan, which means "sandalwood" or "the moon." This name has been in use since ancient times and can be found in Hindu scriptures and texts.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Chan was Chan Tzu-ch'ien (1899-1983), a prominent Chinese philosopher and scholar. He is known for his work on Neo-Confucianism and his contributions to the development of modern Chinese thought.
Another notable figure is Chan Buddhism, a branch of Mahayana Buddhism that emerged in China around the 6th century AD. The term "Chan" is derived from the Sanskrit word "dhyana," which means meditation or contemplation.
In the realm of literature, Chan Jo-shui (1876-1926) was a renowned Taiwanese writer and poet. He is considered one of the pioneers of modern Taiwanese literature and played a significant role in the literary movement during the Japanese colonial period.
Chan Itch Khachoo (1876-1957) was an Indian freedom fighter and politician from Punjab. He actively participated in the Indian independence movement and served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India, which drafted the country's constitution.
Chan Siu Kee (1904-1977) was a Hong Kong entrepreneur and philanthropist. He founded the Hong Kong-based company Crocodile Garments, which became a major clothing manufacturer and retailer in Asia.
These examples illustrate the diverse cultural and historical contexts in which the name Chan has been used, spanning various regions, languages, and eras.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Chan
People
Chan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Chan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Chan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Chan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,084 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Chan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 316,194 US residents.
Is Chan a common name?
We classify Chan as "Rare". It ranks above 90.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,240 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Chan most popular?
The single biggest year for Chan was 1982, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Chan is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Chan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,495 people with the name Chan, or 1.82 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,697 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Chan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Chan?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Chan on both sides of the split. Of the 5,500 people counted with this name, 3,513 were male (63.9%) and 1,987 were female (36.1%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Chan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Chan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 84.7%. The next largest groups are White (7.8%) and Black (4.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Chan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Chan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.7% (4,653 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Chan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Chan a male name?
Yes, 82.9% of people registered as Chan in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Chan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Chan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Chan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Chan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.