Dan

Did you know?

A few things about Dan you might not know, from US birth records and Wikipedia. Handy for convincing a partner, or a grandparent.

⭐ Famous Dan

Dan Simmons

American novelist (1948–2026)

Choose Dan and your child shares a first name with Dan Simmons, an American novelist. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Dan, like who?” Dan Simmons's Wikipedia article is available in 44 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Dan Simmons on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Glen Engel-Cox, CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 21,882 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Dan, 78 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Dan would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryDan has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Dans, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1881, when it ranked #86. Today it's #1,959, so it could be due a comeback.
• 🍂TrendDan has slipped 193 places over the last five years and now sits at #1,959. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• ⚖️Boy or girlDan is given to both boys and girls: 89% of the 88 babies named Dan in 2025 were boys. That makes it one of the names that truly works for either.
• 💬MeaningIn Hebrew, Dan means “judge”. Our records link it to English, Hebrew and Irish roots.

About the name Dan

Dan is a boy name of English, Hebrew and Irish origin meaning “judge”. It has 3 letters and 1 syllable, starting with D and ending in “-dan”. US birth records list Dan for boys from 1880 to 2025, in 146 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1881, when it ranked #86 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #1,959, with 78 babies.

Origin:English namesHebrew namesIrish names