Żan
Fewer than a dozen people in Poland carry Żan: most Poles will never meet one, and no boys were given it last year. A Hebrew name at root, meaning "god is gracious".
Żan Pronunciation
Żan is pronounced ZHAHN (/ʐan/).
What Żan means
Where Żan comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Żan came into Polish from the French Jean. Behind Jean stands the Latin Iohannes, and older still the Hebrew Yohanan, meaning "God is gracious." Polish keeps the sense plain: bóg jest łaskawy.
The name is short. Three letters hold a full sentence about grace. Żan belongs to the same Hebrew root as Jan, the old Polish form of John, so a boy named Żan shares his origin with saints and half the men in any parish record.
On a school class register, Żan sits near Jan and Janek without repeating them. The French shape gives it a different sound while the Hebrew meaning stays fixed. Whoever carries the name carries the old claim that God is gracious.
How many people are named Żan
1 in 2668274 men in Poland is named Żan. 8 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #19868 among male names.