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The surname Kan

A Japanese surname, carried by 3,005 people in the United States.

1 syllable Soundex K500

Kan: #10,647 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#10Martinez#100Jimenez#1,000Archer Kan #10,647, 3,005 people Kan: #10,647 of 162,253 surnames in the 2010 US Census #1Smith#160,975Doriott#100Jimenez Kan #10,647, 3,005 people
Every surname held by 100 or more people in the 2010 US Census, most common on the left (162,253 in all). Kan is more common than 93.4% of them.

Origin

Japanese origin

Borrowed from Japanese 菅 (Kan) or かん (Kan).

One of 123 Japanese surnames on this site.

Origin from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How common it is

2010 US Census

There were 3,005 people named Kan in the United States in 2010, about 1 in every 102,744 Americans. That is up 11% since 2000, when the Census counted 2,705.

#10,647
rank among US surnames
3,005
people in 2010
1.0
per 100,000 Americans
+11.1%
change since 2000 (was #10,816)
RankSurnamePeople1 in
#10,641Toups3,008102,641
#10,644Mattes3,007102,676
#10,645Rosso3,006102,710
#10,647Kan3,005102,744
#10,649Weyer3,004102,778
#10,653Anchondo3,003102,812

Who is named Kan

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

83% of people named Kan identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, 11% as white (not Hispanic) and 3.6% as two or more races.

  • Asian and Pacific Islander 83%
  • White (not Hispanic) 11%
  • Two or more races 3.6%
  • Hispanic or Latino (any race) 2.1%
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 Kans

2 notable people on Wikidata, most written-about first

  • Naoto Kan
    94th Prime Minister of Japan, born 1946
  • Justin Kan
    American internet entrepreneur, born 1983

Notable Kans come mostly from Japan (1) and the United States (1).

Spellings and sound-alikes

Useful when a record has your ancestor under another spelling

Surnames that sound like Kan

Kan has the Soundex code K500, the code US census indexes have used since the 1930s. Every surname with code K500.

Other Japanese surnames

Questions

Where does the surname Kan come from?
Borrowed from Japanese 菅 (Kan) or かん (Kan).
How common is the surname Kan?
3,005 people in the United States had the surname Kan in the 2010 Census, about 1 in every 102,744 Americans. It ranked 10,647th of 162,253 surnames.
What ethnicity is the surname Kan?
In the 2010 Census, 83% of people named Kan identified as Asian and Pacific Islander, and 11% as white (not Hispanic).
Who is the most famous person named Kan?
Naoto Kan, 94th Prime Minister of Japan, followed by Justin Kan.
Where is the surname Kan most common?
Wikidata records people named Kan in Japan and the United States.
Is the surname Kan getting more or less common?
More common. 2,705 people carried it in the 2000 Census and 3,005 in 2010, up 11%.
Is Kan also a first name?
Yes. Kan is used as a first name as well as a surname; its first-name page has the meaning and how many babies were given it.