Van Boy
How popular is Van?
#970 boy name in 2025
236 baby boys were named Van in the US in 2025, making it the 970th most popular boy name. Another 8 girls got the name (#10,913 for girls).
Van popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #970 for boys (▼ 61 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 236 boys, 8 girls |
| 10-year trend | Steady (-14% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #827 in 2015, #868 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1954 (573 boys) |
| Highest rank | #233 in 1891 |
| First recorded | 1880 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 95% boys, 5% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 0.2% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Van counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Van family of names ranked #838 for boys in 2025 (#824 the year before), with 268 babies in all.
| Spelling | Boys in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Van | 236 | 88% |
| Vann | 24 | 9% |
| Vahn | 8 | 3% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Van is most popular
Babies named Van per 1,000 boys born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
Van by decade
| Decade | Baby boys | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 356 | #248 |
| 1890s | 363 | #233 |
| 1900s | 362 | #271 |
| 1910s | 1,290 | #389 |
| 1920s | 2,163 | #389 |
| 1930s | 1,947 | #368 |
| 1940s | 3,764 | #265 |
| 1950s | 5,090 | #294 |
| 1960s | 3,933 | #342 |
| 1970s | 1,741 | #518 |
| 1980s | 1,414 | #675 |
| 1990s | 1,031 | #872 |
| 2000s | 1,807 | #774 |
| 2010s | 2,656 | #753 |
| 2020s | 1,515 | #868 |
Boy names about as popular as Van
Questions
- Is Van a boy or girl name?
- Van is mostly a boy name. Over the last 10 years, 95% of babies named Van were boys.
- How popular is the name Van?
- 236 baby boys were named Van in the US in 2025, making it the 970th most popular boy name. Another 8 girls got the name (#10,913 for girls).
- When was Van most popular?
- Van peaked in 1954, when 573 boys were given the name. Its highest rank was #233 in 1891.
- How many people are named Van?
- 31,194 babies have been named Van in the US since 1880. We estimate about 20,204 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 52.
- Where is Van most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Van was most common in Utah, at 0.7 of every 1,000 boys born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.