Shan

Where Shan comes from

Shan hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1944
    First appearance
    #3,430 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  2. 1965
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  3. 1969
    Peak, #893
    73 babies named Shan — more than any year before or since.
  4. 1970
    Shan George born
    Nigerian actress
  5. 1981
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,766.
  6. 1983
    Shan Xiaona born
    German table tennis player
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • Shan Xiaona · German table tennis player, born 1983
  • Shan George · Nigerian actress, born 1970
  • Shan Tsutsui · American politician, born 1971
  • Shan Foster · American basketball player, born 1986
  • Shan Morgan · British diplomat, born 1955

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.