How Many People Are Named Van?
An estimated 20,707 people in the United States have the first name Van. It is predominantly male (94.3%). The average bearer is 48 years old, and Van peaked in popularity in 1953 with 591 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Van as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Van paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
20,707
About 1 in 16,553 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Male
94.3% confidence
Average Age
48
years old
Peak Year
1953
591 births
Total Registered
30,949
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Van
Van is predominantly male (94.3%), though 1,754 female births have been registered. It functions as a unisex name for a small percentage of bearers.
Van as a male name
Ranked #907 in 2024
257 male births in 2024
Peak: 1953 (572 births)
Van as a female name
Ranked #10,181 in 2024
10 female births in 2024
Peak: 1983 (58 births)
Van: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Van span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 5,279 babies were registered. Van has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Van by Decade
How has Van tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 362 | 356 | 6 | |
| 1890s | 363 | 363 | 0 | |
| 1900s | 386 | 362 | 24 | |
| 1910s | 1,344 | 1,290 | 54 | |
| 1920s | 2,272 | 2,163 | 109 | |
| 1930s | 2,036 | 1,947 | 89 | |
| 1940s | 3,873 | 3,764 | 109 | |
| 1950s | 5,279 | 5,089 | 190 | |
| 1960s | 4,078 | 3,934 | 144 | |
| 1970s | 1,852 | 1,741 | 111 | |
| 1980s | 1,824 | 1,414 | 410 | |
| 1990s | 1,209 | 1,031 | 178 | |
| 2000s | 1,909 | 1,807 | 102 | |
| 2010s | 2,834 | 2,656 | 178 | |
| 2020s | 1,328 | 1,278 | 50 | |
Van by State
Birth registrations for Van span all 43 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, North Carolina. The lowest are in North Dakota, South Dakota, Connecticut. On average, about 537 Vans were registered per state.
Van + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Van as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Van
Other first names starting with V with a similar number of bearers.
Van: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Van?
We estimate approximately 20,707 people named Van are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 16,553 Americans share this first name.
Is Van a common name?
Van is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 98.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 30,949 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Van most popular?
Van reached peak popularity in 1953, when 591 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Van is approximately 48 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Van a male name?
Van is predominantly male. 94.3% of people with this name are male. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Van Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Van Smith, Van Johnson, Van Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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