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Tan as a Baby Name. Meaning and Origin of Tan

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The baby name Tan is a Unisex name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced {'English': "/tæn/ (rhymes with 'can')", 'Mandarin (Tán, 谭)': "approx. 'tahn' with a rising tone (Tán)", 'Vietnamese (Tân)': "approx. 'tahn' with the Vietnamese rising tone", 'Cantonese (Tam, 谭)': "approx. 'taam' (often romanized Tam)"}.

Tan is Chinese, English, Vietnamese in Origin.

Gender: Unisex
Syllables: 1.0
Origin: Chinese, English, Vietnamese
Pronunciation: {'English': "/tæn/ (rhymes with 'can')", 'Mandarin (Tán, 谭)': "approx. 'tahn' with a rising tone (Tán)", 'Vietnamese (Tân)': "approx. 'tahn' with the Vietnamese rising tone", 'Cantonese (Tam, 谭)': "approx. 'taam' (often romanized Tam)"}

What is the meaning of the name Tan ?

The baby name Tan is a Unisex name , 1 syllables long and is pronounced {'English': "/tæn/ (rhymes with 'can')", 'Mandarin (Tán, 谭)': "approx. 'tahn' with a rising tone (Tán)", 'Vietnamese (Tân)': "approx. 'tahn' with the Vietnamese rising tone", 'Cantonese (Tam, 谭)': "approx. 'taam' (often romanized Tam)"}.

Tan is Chinese, English, Vietnamese in Origin.

Tan is a cross-cultural given name and surname. In Turkish, Tan means "dawn, daybreak," a popular 20th-century choice and a root in compounds. As a Vietnamese given name, Tân (from Sino-Vietnamese 新) means "new; renewal," common for boys and sometimes unisex. In Chinese contexts, Tan is chiefly a surname: pinyin Tán (谭) and Hokkien/Teochew Tan for 陳 (Mandarin Chén; Cantonese Chan). As a Chinese given name, Tán may be written 昙 "ephemeral cloud" or 檀 "sandalwood," so meanings vary.

Variants and related forms include Tân (Vietnamese), Tán (Mandarin), Tam (Cantonese), and Tan as the Hokkien/Teochew romanization of 陳; under other systems this corresponds to Chen/Chan. Turkish compounds built on Tan include Taner, Tanay, Tansu, and Tansel. Usage in Turkey rose with the Republic’s preference for pure-Turkic lexemes, while Vietnamese Tân has classical pedigree through Sino-Vietnamese vocabulary. Across cultures, Tan carries positive associations of first light and fresh beginnings.

Tan has the following similar or variant Names

Tan – Popularity by country

Based on birth registration data from national statistics agencies.

Country Gender Year Rank Born of
SG Boys 0 #1 11,274 17,960
SG Girls 0 #1 6,610 18,916
SG 0 #1 1,692 11,010
MY Girls 0 #5 14,326 24,821
MY 0 #6 1,979 12,352
MY Boys 0 #6 20,039 25,439
KH Boys 0 #9 1 270
BN 0 #28 5 2,297
ID 0 #33 7 2,238
MT 0 #43 1 1,767
MO 0 #47 6 2,706
AL 0 #64 12 2,372
BN Boys 0 #65 70 6,332
LU 0 #65 2 2,830
ID Girls 0 #66 33 3,319
CN 0 #67 19 3,857
ID Boys 0 #67 68 4,130
JP 0 #71 7 4,057
SI 0 #80 1 1,612
BG 0 #81 2 1,799
BN Girls 0 #83 24 5,459
RS 0 #84 1 923
TW 0 #91 10 4,523
MD Girls 0 #92 1 865
JM 0 #93 1 3,714
AF Girls 0 #94 1 2,402
OM 0 #103 14 6,215
QA 0 #104 3 7,011
PH 0 #107 4 5,607
EC 0 #121 1 2,502
EE Boys 0 #125 1 2,087
IQ 0 #132 2 3,533
AL Boys 0 #133 196 5,122
EE Girls 0 #142 1 1,888
BW Girls 0 #150 2 4,216
MT Girls 0 #153 1 3,773
BW Boys 0 #154 1 4,685
CR 0 #165 1 5,526
HU Boys 0 #173 2 3,954
MT Boys 0 #179 1 4,064
AE 0 #184 4 10,220
LU Girls 0 #187 4 4,850
CN Boys 0 #194 135 9,639
MO Boys 0 #195 29 5,842
TW Boys 0 #202 40 7,111
Austria 0 #203 11 850
BD 0 #204 24 5,992
DK 0 #205 2 5,198
MO Girls 0 #208 44 7,056
PL 0 #210 3 2,600
AL Girls 0 #224 4 4,141
BG Girls 0 #230 2 3,559
CN Girls 0 #233 120 8,829
NA Girls 0 #236 2 7,146
JM Girls 0 #238 22 7,507
TW Girls 0 #244 33 8,139
JP Girls 0 #247 5 6,592
NA Boys 0 #251 3 6,830
HR Boys 0 #258 2 3,997
GR Boys 0 #267 7 6,912
AF Boys 0 #268 7 3,535
NG 0 #272 1 5,926
JP Boys 0 #275 23 7,909
Canada Boys 2004 #291 5 2,100
KZ Boys 0 #291 6 6,578
JM Boys 0 #293 1 6,876
CZ Boys 0 #298 8 6,530
QA Girls 0 #305 12 15,378
SA 0 #306 7 10,560
HK 0 #308 41 8,483
KZ Girls 0 #311 10 5,862
PH Boys 0 #322 62 11,440
DK Boys 0 #325 8 7,401
DK Girls 0 #329 1 7,429
PE 0 #329 1 6,350
GH Girls 0 #335 3 6,973
JO Girls 0 #337 3 7,570
PL Boys 0 #338 3 6,459
MU Girls 0 #339 13 8,539
BD Girls 0 #343 44 8,413
MU Boys 0 #345 13 8,477
CZ Girls 0 #350 2 5,378
SD Girls 0 #351 8 7,678
GH Boys 0 #358 4 8,138
BR 0 #359 2 5,969
PL Girls 0 #363 2 5,096
OM Girls 0 #364 33 15,987
PH Girls 0 #365 26 13,098
HK Boys 0 #373 160 12,905
Germany 0 #376 62 2,542
Austria Girls 0 #378 43 1,885
PT Boys 0 #381 1 7,951
JO Boys 0 #389 1 7,057
YE 0 #394 5 8,639
France Boys 2016 #406 3 2,872
UY Boys 0 #410 4 5,922
EG 0 #412 1 6,387
HK Girls 0 #421 199 16,104
BD Boys 0 #422 160 10,045
CL 0 #433 2 6,867
MX 0 #438 8 8,339
SD Boys 0 #458 9 10,523
RU Girls 0 #465 34 11,913
CR Boys 0 #467 21 10,188
ZA 0 #473 2 14,421
RU Boys 0 #474 32 12,621
IQ Girls 0 #475 30 11,303
AR Boys 0 #481 3 7,628
KW Girls 0 #494 22 19,177
GT Boys 0 #495 5 7,625
IR Girls 0 #502 29 8,334
PA Boys 0 #503 3 9,305
CO 0 #509 2 7,768
LY 0 #525 11 12,703
AE Girls 0 #526 28 20,968
BH 0 #532 22 17,937
CM Boys 0 #532 19 12,054
UY Girls 0 #536 1 6,731
Germany Girls 0 #538 337 4,949
IR Boys 0 #540 13 10,162
PS Girls 0 #547 1 10,981
PS Boys 0 #556 6 10,655
CM Girls 0 #559 2 11,671
CR Girls 0 #572 2 11,342
BO Boys 0 #621 2 9,244
IL Boys 0 #623 3 10,983
AR Girls 0 #625 6 8,289
IQ Boys 0 #630 38 13,071
IL Girls 0 #643 3 11,648
IN Girls 0 #646 9 13,121
CL Boys 0 #649 17 13,390
Finland Boys 2026 #649 34 3,552
BO Girls 0 #650 2 9,488
QA Boys 0 #681 27 18,093
LB 0 #682 9 13,263
IT 0 #698 17 4,183
TR 0 #720 711 19,440
KW Boys 0 #746 24 18,755
SY 0 #762 6 11,684
BR Boys 0 #779 7 12,213
OM Boys 0 #807 75 17,948
TN 0 #819 11 13,765
NG Girls 0 #821 6 15,093
EG Boys 0 #835 52 15,035
CL Girls 0 #842 10 14,098
PE Boys 0 #860 19 14,506
SA Girls 0 #871 65 25,931
Germany Boys 0 #874 79 5,697
United States Boys 2019 #884 8 7,235
CO Boys 0 #888 33 15,656
NL Boys 0 #899 53 5,873
NL Girls 0 #904 52 5,933
Spain Boys 0 #917 14 5,610
EG Girls 0 #937 23 14,742
NG Boys 0 #937 15 16,906
MA 0 #940 189 20,986
Spain Girls 0 #958 26 5,561
IN Boys 0 #962 40 16,750
MX Boys 0 #968 15 16,355
BR Girls 0 #988 5 12,708
PE Girls 0 #1,006 5 14,861
AE Boys 0 #1,046 47 22,615
CO Girls 0 #1,069 10 16,140
DZ 0 #1,097 80 20,130
ZA Girls 0 #1,127 15 25,928
MX Girls 0 #1,136 48 17,781
ZA Boys 0 #1,166 13 25,619
IT Boys 0 #1,304 168 10,046
SA Boys 0 #1,414 201 28,008
IT Girls 0 #1,416 31 9,415

Tan is popular in 81 countries — most recent births per country:

France
United States
Canada
AE
AF

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People also ask about Tan

Tan is a unisex name, given to both boys and girls.
Tan is a one syllable name, pronounced {'English': "/tæn/ (rhymes with 'can')", 'Mandarin (Tán, 谭)': "approx. 'tahn' with a rising tone (Tán)", 'Vietnamese (Tân)': "approx. 'tahn' with the Vietnamese rising tone", 'Cantonese (Tam, 谭)': "approx. 'taam' (often romanized Tam)"}.
Common nicknames and spelling variations include Tân (Vietnamese, with diacritic), Tán (pinyin with tone mark for Mandarin), Tam (Cantonese romanization of 谭) and Tan (common romanization/surname without diacritics).
Across languages, Tan has these equivalents: Neo (Greek-derived name meaning 'new'), Navin / Naveen (Sanskrit/Hindi, meaning 'new, fresh'), Novak (Slavic element meaning 'new'—used as a surname and sometimes a given name).
Yes — Tan ranked #291 in Canada in 2004, and appears in official birth registries across 4 countries.
Tan ranks highest in Canada (#291 in 2004).