Van

Where Van comes from

Shortening.
— Wiktionary's entry for Van
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #286 among boys — 33 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1891
    Peak, #233
    48 babies named Van — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1910
    Van Heflin born
    American actor
  4. 1945
    Van Morrison born
    Northern Irish musician
In the dictionary
  • A diminutive of the female given name Vanessa.
  • A diminutive of the male given names Vance, Ivan, and Evan.
Namesakes
  • Van Morrison · Northern Irish musician, born 1945
  • Van Heflin · American actor, 1910–1971
  • Van Johnson · American actor, 1916–2008
  • Van Jones · American environmental advocate and civil rights activist, born 1968
  • Van Williams · American actor, 1934–2016

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.