Kan (surname)
| Language(s) | Chinese (including Mandarin, Cantonese, Hokkien), Dutch, Japanese, Korean, and others |
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Kan is a surname of multiple origins.
Origins[]
As a Chinese surname, Kan may be a spelling of the pronunciation in different varieties of Chinese of the following surnames, listed based on their Pinyin spelling (which reflects the Mandarin Chinese pronunciation):[1]
- Kàn (traditional Chinese: 闞; simplified Chinese: 阚)
- Gān (Chinese: 甘 or 干), spelled Kan in the older Wade–Giles romanisation
- Jiǎn (traditional Chinese: 簡; simplified Chinese: 简), spelled Kan based on its Cantonese (Jyutping: Gaan2; Cantonese Yale: Gaán; IPA: /kɑːn³⁵/) or Hokkien (Pe̍h-ōe-jī: Kán) pronunciation
- Jìn (Chinese: 靳), spelled Kan based on its Cantonese pronunciation (Jyutping: Gan3; Cantonese Yale: Gan; IPA: /kɐn³³)
The Dutch surname Kan originated both as an occupational surname for a potter or pewterer (from Middle Dutch kan, 'tankard', 'flagon', 'pitcher'), and as a reduced form of van de Kan, possibly a toponymic surname referring to De Kan in Veurne.[2]
As a Japanese surname, Kan may be written using multiple kanji (e.g. 菅, 簡).[3]
As a Jewish surname, Kan is one of many variants of Cohen.[4]
As a Korean surname, Kan is the Yale Romanization and McCune–Reischauer spelling of the uncommon surname spelled in the Revised Romanization as Gan (Korean: 간; Hanja: 簡). The hanja for this surname is same one which is used to write the Chinese surname Jiǎn mentioned above.[5][6] Additionally, Kan may be a transcription of the common Korean surname Kang (Korean: 강; Hanja: 姜, 江, 康) via the Kontsevich system spelling in the Cyrillic alphabet (Кан).[7] This spelling can be found among ethnic Koreans from the former Soviet Union (Koryo-saram and Sakhalin Koreans).[8]
Statistics[]
According to statistics cited by Patrick Hanks, 715 people on the island of Great Britain and five on the island of Ireland bore the surname Gan as of 2011. In 1881 there had been seven people in Great Britain with the surname Kan, primarily at Middlesex.[1]
The 2010 United States Census found 3,005 people with the surname Kan, making it the 10,647th-most-common name in the country. This represented an increase from 2,705 (10,816th most-common) in the 2000 Census. In both censuses, about four-fifths of the bearers of the surname identified as Asian, and one-tenth as White.[9] It was the 453rd-most-common surname among respondents to the 2000 Census who identified as Asian.[10]
People with this name[]
Surname 闞 (阚)[]
- Kan Qingzi (阚清子; born 1988), Chinese actress
- Kan Xuan (阚萱; born 1972), Chinese visual artist
- Kan Ze (闞澤; died 243), official of the state of Eastern Wu
Surname 菅[]
- Kazunori Kan (菅 和範; born 1985), Japanese football midfielder
- Naoto Kan (菅 直人; born 1946), Japanese Prime Minister
- Nobuko Kan (菅 伸子, born 1945), Japanese writer
Surname 簡[]
- Billy Kan (簡志堅; born c. 1951), Hong Kong billionaire businessman
- Brian Kan (簡炳墀; born 1937), Hong Kong horse trainer
- Kan Fook-yee (簡福飴; born 1936), Hong Kong surveyor
- Hok Hoei Kan (簡福輝; 1881–1951), Dutch East Indies landowner
- Masayoshi Kan (簡 優好; born 1972), Japanese sprinter
- Kan Mi-youn (간미연; 簡美妍; born 1982), South Korean singer
- Raymond Kan (簡日淦; born 1932), Hong Kong architect
- Kan Ting Chiu (简廷照; born 1946), Singaporean judge
- Victor Kan (簡華捷; born 1941), Hong Kong martial artist
- Willy Kan (簡慧榆; 1978–1999), Hong Kong jockey
- Kan Yuet-keung (簡悅強), Hong Kong banker
- Yuet Wai Kan (簡悅威; born 1946), Hong Kong-born American medical scientist
Other[]
- Kán, a Hungarian noble family
- Aleksander Kan (1925–2017), Russian-born Swedish history professor
- Alexander Rinnooy Kan (born 1949), Dutch mathematician
- Dan Kan (executive), American technology executive
- Daniel Kan (1927–2013), Dutch mathematician
- Derek Kan (甘達慶), American business executive and government official
- Francisco Luna Kan (born 1925), Mexican politician
- Gene Kan (1976–2002), British-born American computer programmer
- Georges Kan (born 1958), French musicologist
- Ilya Kan (1909–1978), Soviet chess player
- Justin Kan (born 1983), American internet entrepreneur
- Raybon Kan (born 1996), New Zealand comedian
- Ravza Kavakçı Kan (born 1972), Turkish politician,
- Sergei Kan (fl. 1974–present), Soviet-born American anthropologist
- Shiu-Kay Kan (born 1951), Hong Kong-born British architect
- Suna Kan (born 1946), Turkish violinist
- Toni Kan (born 1971), Nigerian writer
- Valery Kan (born 1978), Russian politician
- Victoria Kan (born 1995), Russian tennis player
- Wim Kan (1911–1983), Dutch cabaret artist
- Yo Kan (韓陽; born 1978), Chinese-born Japanese table tennis player
- Yue-Sai Kan (靳羽西; born 1949), Chinese-born American television host
See also[]
- Kan (disambiguation)
- Kahn (German surname)
- Khan (name)
References[]
- ^ Jump up to: a b Hanks, Patrick; Coates, Richard; McClure, Peter, eds. (2016). The Oxford Dictionary of Family Names in Britain and Ireland. Oxford University Press. p. 1433. ISBN 9780192527479.
- ^ Hankes, Coates & McClure 2016, p. 1433, entries #9 and 10
- ^ Breen, Jim. "かん". Japanese Names (ENAMDICT). Electronic Dictionary Research and Development Group. Retrieved 7 November 2018.
- ^ Hankes, Coates & McClure 2016, p. 1433, entry #7
- ^ "가평간씨(加平簡氏)" [Gapyeong Gan clan]. Saemangeum Ilbo. 16 January 2017. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
- ^ "가평간씨(加平簡氏)" [Gapyeong Gan clan]. Academy of Korean Studies. Retrieved 5 November 2018.
- ^ Куротченко, К. Б.; Леонов, М. В.; Швецов, Ю. И. (2005). Корейский язык: Учебное пособие. Москва. p. 73.
- ^ Kho, Songmoo (1987). "Koreans in Soviet Central Asia". 61. Finnish Oriental Society: 52. Retrieved 7 November 2018. Cite journal requires
|journal=(help) - ^ "How common is your last name?". Newsday. Retrieved 5 September 2018.
- ^ "Most common last names for Asians and Pacific Islanders in the U.S." Mongabay. Retrieved 8 January 2018.
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- Surnames
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