Dan
From Hebrew, where it means "judge". Fewer than 800 people in Poland carry it, so most Poles have never met one, though a few boys still get the name each year.
Dan Pronunciation
Dan is pronounced DAHN (/dan/).
What Dan means
Where Dan comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Dan begins in Hebrew, where the word means judge, the one who judged. In Genesis, Dan is a son of Jacob and the ancestor of one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and the text ties his name to the verb for judging. The short meaning sits close to the surface. A Dan weighs and decides.
The name reads today as English, clipped and modern, and Polish families have taken it up over the last few decades. Behind it stands the fuller Daniel, whose sense is God is my judge. Dan works alone or as the everyday form of that longer name.
On a school register in Warsaw, Dan sits among the Kacpers and Filips without any need for explanation. The Hebrew root still holds, though. In Polish the meaning comes out as sędzia, the judge.
How many people are named Dan
1 in 29606 men in Poland is named Dan. 763 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1075 among male names.
Dan's popularity over time
3 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #1222 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2023. Still the #1075 name among living men, even as it slips to #1222 among newborns.
Where Dan is most popular
Dan is most popular in Masovian, 510% above the national average (2 boys born 2019–2025).
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Masovian2 boys born+510%
Dan as a middle name
Dan is a first name for 763 men in Poland and a middle name for another 96, an 89/11 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 728th, between Zvi (97) and Jarek (96).
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#726 Salomon97
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#727 Zvi97
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#728 Dan96
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#729 Jarek96
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#730 Martín96