Yan
Barely registered for two decades, then it jumped: after years in the single digits, thirty boys got it in 2025, almost all of them born this decade. A Hebrew name meaning "god is gracious", still rare enough that most Poles have never met one.
Yan Pronunciation
Yan is pronounced IH-ahn (/ˈɨan/).
What Yan means
Where Yan comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
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.
How many people are named Yan
1 in 9118 men in Poland is named Yan. 2,452 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #644 among male names.
Yan's popularity over time
30 boys were given the name in 2025, ranking #444 among newborns. It is making a comeback after a low in 2018.
Where parents choose Yan
Yan is most popular in Lower Silesian, 233% above the national average (15 boys born 2019–2025), followed by Masovian (+57%) and Greater Poland (+46%). It is least common in Subcarpathian and Silesian, 42% and 39% below average respectively.
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Lower Silesian
+233%1 in 10,476 babies
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Masovian
+57%1 in 22,142 babies
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Greater Poland
+46%1 in 23,916 babies
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Subcarpathian
−42%1 in 60,283 babies
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Silesian
−39%1 in 56,896 babies
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Pomeranian
−29%1 in 49,107 babies
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Lower Silesian+233% 15 born1 in 10,476 babies+233%
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Masovian+57% 16 born1 in 22,142 babies+57%
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Greater Poland+46% 9 born1 in 23,916 babies+46%
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Łódź+38% 5 born1 in 25,344 babies+38%
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Lesser Poland−8% 6 born1 in 37,819 babies−8%
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West Pomeranian−17% 2 born1 in 42,213 babies−17%
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Pomeranian−29% 3 born1 in 49,107 babies−29%
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Silesian−39% 4 born1 in 56,896 babies−39%
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Subcarpathian−42% 2 born1 in 60,283 babies−42%
Yan as a middle name
Yan is a first name for 2,452 men in Poland and a middle name for another 65, a 97/3 split. In the men's middle-name ranking it sits 902nd, between Sylwin (65) and Alp (64).
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#900 Oton65
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#901 Sylwin65
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#902 Yan65
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#903 Alp64
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#904 Ashok64