Van

Did you know?

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

⭐ Famous Van

Van Morrison

Northern Irish musician (born 1945)

Choose Van and your child shares a first name with Van Morrison, a Northern Irish musician. A ready-made answer when someone asks “Van, like who?” Van Morrison's Wikipedia article is available in 53 languages, a good sign of just how widely known they are.

Read about Van Morrison on Wikipedia ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Photo: Art Siegel (artolog on flickr), CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab), via Wikimedia Commons

• 👶How commonAbout 1 in every 7,236 baby boys born in the US in 2025 was named Van, 236 babies in all. In a typical school of 500 kids, your Van would very likely be the only one.
• 📜HistoryVan has been in use since at least 1880, the first year US birth records were kept. That's 145 years of Vans, and counting.
• 🏆Best yearIt was far more popular in 1891, when it ranked #233. Today it's #970, so it could be due a comeback.
• 📈Then vs nowVan is 3.2× more common today than it was in 2000. In 2000 it was given to about 1 in 23,364 baby boys; in 2025, about 1 in 7,236.
• 🍂TrendVan has slipped 102 places over the last five years and now sits at #970. Good news if you want a familiar name that fewer kids will share.
• 📍Where it's lovedVan is most popular in Utah, where it ranks #351, followed by Louisiana (#531) and Kansas (#590). It's in the top 1,000 in 15 states.
• 💬MeaningIn Dutch, Van means “of, from”. Our records link it to American and Dutch roots.
• 🌍OriginVan is the #9 most popular Dutch boy name in the US. That's out of 169 Dutch boy and unisex names in our list.

About the name Van

Van is a boy name of American and Dutch origin meaning “of, from”. It has 3 letters and 1 syllable, starting with V and ending in “-van”. US birth records list Van for boys from 1880 to 2025, in 146 of those 146 years. Its best year was 1891, when it ranked #233 among boy names. In 2025 it ranked #970, with 236 babies.

Origin:American namesDutch names