Quan

Quan is a name that appears in several East Asian naming traditions and is also encountered in diaspora communities that use English spellings. It is most familiar as a Vietnamese given name, often written Quân in Vietnamese with diacritics. In Vietnamese, Quân derives from characters such as 軍 meaning “military” or “army,” though other characters sharing the same pronunciation may be used, giving different meanings. As a given name, Quân is typically masculine, but naming practices vary and Quan may appear in compound given names as well.

In Chinese contexts, Quan is a romanization of several characters in Mandarin pinyin, such as Quán (权 meaning “power” or 全 meaning “complete”). Depending on the character and the dialect, Quan can function as a surname in some communities or appear as part of a given name. In Cantonese-speaking areas, the same characters may be rendered as Kwan or Quan in different romanization systems, which explains related spellings in English-language texts.

Beyond personal names, Quan may occur in place names or cultural terms in various languages, reflecting its cross-cultural usage. In English-language sources, Quan is usually identified as a surname or given name of East Asian origin, though usage and pronunciation vary by region and community.

Notable individuals with the name come from Vietnamese and Chinese diaspora communities across sports, academia, and media, and the spelling Quan may also appear in unrelated contexts or as part of longer names. See also Guan, Quang, and Quan disambiguation for related terms.