How common is the surname Fan?

8,441 people in the United States had the surname Fan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 36,577 Americans. It ranked 4,197th of 162,253 surnames.

Who is the most famous person named Fan?

Fan Ye, 5th century Chinese historian, followed by FanFan.

Where is the surname Fan most common?

Wikidata records people named Fan in the People's Republic of China, Jin dynasty and the United States and 2 other countries.

Is the surname Fan getting more or less common?

More common. 5,701 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,441 in 2010, up 48%.

The surname Fan

A Chinese surname, carried by 8,441 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex F500

Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Fan is more common than 97.4% of them.

Origin

Chinese origin

From Mandarin 范 (Fàn).

One of 193 Chinese surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 8,441 people named Fan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 36,577 Americans. That is up 48% since 2000, when the Census counted 5,701.

#4,197

rank among US surnames

8,441

people in 2010

2.9

per 100,000 Americans

+48.1%

change since 2000 (was #5,587)

Rank	Surname	People	1 in
#4,188	Gillen	8,462	36,486
#4,189	Kersey	8,459	36,499
#4,190	Gorham	8,458	36,503
#4,191	Cai	8,457	36,508
#4,192	Griego	8,456	36,512
#4,193	McLendon	8,453	36,525
#4,194	Forsyth	8,450	36,538

Who is named Fan

Race and Hispanic origin as people reported it in the 2010 Census

95% of people named Fan identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 2.8% as white (not Hispanic) and 1.4% as two or more races.

Asian and Pacific Islander 95%
White (not Hispanic) 2.8%
Two or more races 1.4%
Hispanic or Latino (any race) 0.6%

The Census suppresses very small shares to protect privacy; Black, Native American are not shown.

Compare: most common surnames among Asian and Pacific Islander Americans.

Famous Fans

7 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

Fan Ye
5th century Chinese historian, 398–445
FanFan
American singer, born 1976
Fan Yilin
Artistic gymnast, born 1999
Fan Zeng
Advisor to Xiang Yu, -276–-203
Fan Yunjie
Association footballer, born 1972
Fan Qiang
died 222
Fan Jian
3rd century Chinese Shu Han official, born 101

Notable Fans come mostly from the People's Republic of China (2), Jin dynasty (1) and the United States (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Fan

Fan has the Soundex code F500, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code F500.

Other Chinese surnames

All 193 Chinese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Fan come from?: From Mandarin 范 (Fàn).
How common is the surname Fan?: 8,441 people in the United States had the surname Fan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 36,577 Americans. It ranked 4,197th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Fan?: In the 2010 Census, 95% of people named Fan identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 2.8% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Fan?: Fan Ye, 5th century Chinese historian, followed by FanFan.
Where is the surname Fan most common?: Wikidata records people named Fan in the People's Republic of China, Jin dynasty and the United States and 2 other countries.
Is the surname Fan getting more or less common?: More common. 5,701 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 8,441 in 2010, up 48%.