Looking for baby names that contain the word VAN?
If so, here’s a long list of options to choose from!
Top baby names with VAN
First, a quick rundown of the most popular names with the letter sequence “v-a-n,” according to the current U.S. baby name data.
| Top girl names with “v-a-n” | Top boy names with “v-a-n” |
| Savannah Evangeline Vanessa Ivanna Savanna Giovanna Giavanna Avani Ivana Evangelina | Evan Giovanni Ivan Sullivan Donovan Evander Van Jovanni Vance Jovani |
Now here are the same names again, but this time around I’ve added definitions, links to popularity graphs, and a handful of diminutives.
Avani
The name Avani comes from a Sanskrit word meaning “earth.”
Donovan
The Irish surname Donovan is derived from the given name Donndubhán, which was based on the Old Irish elements donn, meaning “brown,” and dubh, meaning “dark” or “black.”
Evan
The name Evan is an Anglicized form of the Welsh name Ifan — the equivalent of John. Both Ifan and John can be traced back to the Hebrew name Yochanan, meaning “Yahweh is gracious.”
Evander
The name Evander is made up of ancient Greek elements meaning “good” and “man.”
Evangeline + Evangelina
The name Evangeline is made up of ancient Greek elements meaning “good” and “news.”
The name Evangelina is a Latinized form of Evangeline.
Giovanni, Giovanna, Giavanna, Jovanni + Jovani
Like Evan, Giovanni is an Italian equivalent of the English name John.
The name Giovanna is the feminine form of Giovanni.
The names Jovanni, Jovani, and Giavanna are modern respellings of Giovanni and Giovanna.
Diminutive forms of these names include Giovannino, Giovannina, and Vanni.
Ivan, Ivana + Ivanna
The name Ivan is the equivalent of John in various Slavic languages, such as Russian, Bulgarian, and Czech.
The names Ivana and Ivanna are feminine forms of Ivan.
The Russian diminutive form of Ivan is Vanya.
Savannah + Savanna
The word-name Savanna refers to a grassland with few trees. It comes (via Spanish) from the Arawakan word zabana.
The name Savannah can be considered a form of Savanna. It could also refer to any of the various places called Savannah, including the city in Georgia.
Sullivan
The Irish surname Sullivan is derived from the given name Súileabhán, which was based on the Old Irish elements súil, meaning “eye,” and dubh, meaning “dark” or “black.”
Van
The name Van is simply a short form of any first name or family name containing van. (In the case of Dutch surnames like Van Buren, the prefix Van means “of” or “from.”)
Vance
The name Vance comes from the English surname that originally referred to someone who lived near a wetland, such as a fen or a marsh. It’s ultimately based on the Middle English word fen(ne), meaning “fen.”
Vanessa
The name Vanessa was coined by Anglo-Irish writer Jonathan Swift as a nickname for one of his ladyfriends, Esther Vanhomrigh. (It’s a combination of “Van,” the first three letters of Vanhomrigh, and “Essa,” a diminutive of Esther.) Swift featured the name in his poem Cadenus and Vanessa (written in 1713, published in 1726).
More names with VAN
So, what other names have VAN in them? Here are some less-common choices. (Most of these come directly from the SSA’s baby name data.)
- Aadhavan
- Aivan
- Alvan
- Alvana
- Alvania
- Antvan
- Avan
- Avana, Avanna, Avannah
- Avanel, Avanell, Avanelle
- Avangelia
- Avangelina
- Avanish, Avaneesh
- Avanta
- Avante, Avantae
- Avant
- Avanti
- Avantika, Avanthika
- Avanya
- Ayvani
- Bavan
- Bevan
- Bhavana
- Bhuvan
- Bivan
- Brevan
- Calvan
- Cavan
- Cavanaugh
- Cavani
- Cervantes
- Covan
- Danovan
- Davan
- Davana, Davanna
- Davante, Davantay
- Delavan
- Delvan
- Delvante
- Devan, Devann
- Devana, Devanna
- Devane
- Devanna
- Devanand
- Devance
- Devane
- Devang
- Devanee, Devaney, Devani, Devanie, Devany, Devanni
- Devansh
- Devanshi
- Devante, Devantae
- Devanti
- Dhvani
- Dhruvan
- Dilovan
- Dilvan
- Diovanni
- Divante
- Donavan, Donevan, Donivan, Donnavan, Donnivan, Donnovan, Donovann
- Donvan
- Drevan
- Duvan
- Eavan
- Eivan
- Elvan
- Erican
- Ervan
- Estevan
- Evana, Evanna
- Evanee, Evannie
- Evanell, Evanelle
- Evangel
- Evangela
- Evangelia
- Evangelista
- Evangelos
- Evangely
- Evangelena, Evanjelina
- Evangelin, Evangelyn, Evangelynn
- Evangelyne
- Evani, Evanie, Evanni, Evannie
- Evann, Evanne
- Evannah
- Evans
- Evanshi
- Evanston
- Evanthe
- Evanthia
- Evany, Evanny
- Gavan
- Garvan
- Geovana, Geovanna
- Geovani, Geovanie, Geovany, Geovanni, Geovannie, Geovanny
- Gevan
- Giavana
- Giavanni
- Giovan, Giovann
- Giovana
- Giovani, Giovany, Giovannie, Giovanny
- Govan
- Gurvansh
- Havan
- Havana, Havanna, Havannah
- Hovannes, Hovanes
- Iovanna
- Irvan
- Istvan
- Ivanell, Ivanelle
- Ivanhoe
- Ivani, Ivany
- Ivania, Ivannia
- Ivaniel
- Ivanka
- Ivann
- Ivannah
- Ivano
- Ivansh
- Ivanshika
- Javan
- Javana, Javanna
- Javani
- Javant
- Javantay, Javante
- Jeevan
- Jeovanna
- Jeovani, Jeovany, Jeovanni
- Jiovana, Jiovanna
- Jiovani, Jiovanni
- Jivan
- Johnavan, Jonovan, Jonavan
- Jovan, Jovann
- Jovana, Jovanna
- Jovane, Jovanne
- Jovanda
- Jovania
- Jovanie, Jovany, Jovannie, Jovanny
- Jovanka
- Jovante, Jovantae
- Kavan
- Kavanaugh
- Kavani
- Kavante
- Kayvan
- Keevan, Keivan, Keyvan
- Kelvan
- Ketevan
- Kevan
- Kevana, Kevanna
- Kevante
- Kovan
- Kyvan
- Lavan
- Lavana, Lavanna
- Lavance
- Lavancha
- Lavanda
- Lavander
- Lavania, Lavanya
- Leevan
- Leovani, Leovanni
- Levan
- Levana
- Levance
- Levander
- Levane
- Levant
- Livan
- Livana, Livanna
- Lovanda
- Lovann
- Lovanna
- Melvan
- Merivan
- Milovan
- Navana
- Navani, Navany
- Neevan
- Nevan
- Nirvan
- Nirvana
- Norvan
- Novani
- Olivander, Ollivander
- Orvan
- Parvaneh
- Pavan
- Pavani
- Radovan
- Raevan
- Ravan
- Rayvan
- Revan
- Revanth
- Rivan
- Rizvan
- Rovan
- Rovanio
- Sahvana, Sahvanna, Sahvannah
- Sarvani
- Savan
- Savanaha, Savannaha
- Savanha
- Savana, Savanah
- Sevanna, Cevanna
- Savante
- Servando, Cervando
- Sevan
- Sevana, Sevanna
- Sharvani
- Shavanda
- Shavana, Shavanna, Shavannah
- Shavante
- Shivan
- Shivang
- Shivangi
- Shivani
- Shivank
- Shivansh
- Shivanya
- Shovan
- Shravan
- Silvan, Sylvan
- Silvana, Sylvana, Silvanna, Sylvanna
- Silvano
- Silvanus, Sylvanus
- Sivan
- Sivana
- Sivani
- Sivansh
- Sovann
- Sovanna
- Sravan
- Stevan
- Stevana, Stevanna
- Stevanie
- Suvanna
- Svana
- Svanik
- Sylvania
- Syvanna, Syvannah
- Tavan
- Tavania
- Tavanna
- Tavante
- Tevan
- Tovan
- Travante
- Travanti
- Trevan
- Trevante
- Treyvan
- Tyvan
- Vann
- Vana, Vanna, Vannah
- Vanae
- Vanadey
- Vanassa
- Vanaya
- Vanbawi
- Vanburen
- Vancil
- Vanda
- Vandalia
- Vandawt
- Vandela, Vandella
- Vandelia
- Vandell
- Vandan
- Vandana
- Vanden
- Vander
- Vanderbilt
- Vanderlei
- Vandetta
- Vandi, Vandy
- Vandiver
- Vandon
- Vandora
- Vandrea
- Vane
- Vanecia
- Vaneda
- Vaneeza
- Vaneka
- Vanella
- Vanelope, Vanellope
- Vanely, Vanelly
- Vanesa, Vannesa, Vannessa, Vanessah
- Vanesha
- Vaneshia
- Vanesia, Vanessia
- Vaness, Vanesse
- Vanester
- Vaneta, Vanetta, Vannetta
- Vanette, Vannette
- Vaneza, Vanezza
- Vangela
- Vangie
- Vani, Vanie, Vannie, Vanny
- Vania, Vaniah, Vaniya, Vaniyah, Vannia
- Vanice, Vanis, Vanise
- Vanicia
- Vanika
- Vanilla
- Vanille
- Vanisa, Vanissa
- Vanisha
- Vanita
- Vanity, Vanitie
- Vang
- Vannak
- Vannara
- Vannary
- Vanner
- Vannida
- Vanora
- Vansh
- Vanshika
- Vanshon
- Vanson
- Vantasia
- Vanteen
- Vantha
- Vantrell
- Vantrice
- Vanus
- Vannya
- Vivan
- Vivana
- Yavanna
- Yosvani
- Yovan
- Yovani, Yovany, Yovanny
- Yovana, Yovanna
- Yuvan
- Yuvansh
- Yvan
- Yvana, Yvanna
- Zaavan
- Zavanah, Zavanna, Zavannah
- Zevan
Some of the above are non-traditional spellings of more common names, such as Calvin, Kevin, Melvin, and Steven.
Finally, if you’d like to check out popularity graphs for any of the names in this post, just look below for the long list of tags. Each tag is a name, so find the name you’re interested in and click through. The graph will take a moment to load — it’s grabbing a lot of data — but it will allow you to see at a glance the name’s current and historical U.S. usage.
Sources:
- SSA
- Wikipedia
- Wiktionary
- Behind the Name
- Online Etymology Dictionary
- Hanks, Patrick, Kate Hardcastle and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of First Names. New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.
Image by Ingo Doerrie from Unsplash
P.S. Check out my list of names with CAR for more baby names featuring an automobile-themed letter sequence. :)
