Yan

Yan begins in Hebrew, in the name Yohanan, which was read as "God is gracious." Polish took that name as Jan, and the spelling Yan trims Jan to three letters while keeping the meaning intact. The origin is stable even when the vowels move around.

The same three letters open a door far to the east. In China, Yan appears in given names and surnames with meanings entirely of its own. The overlap is pure chance. Still, a Polish Yan and a Chinese Yan could share a page in a school class register and a sound that lines up while the sense behind it does not.

Back home the name gathers diminutives around its fuller form. A small Jan is Janek or Jaś, while the plainer, older Janusz keeps the same root at a heavier weight. Turned toward a daughter, the name becomes Janina.