kwan

Kwan is a surname and, less commonly, a given name used by people of East Asian descent. In many English-language contexts, Kwan represents the Cantonese romanization of the Chinese surname 關/關, which is pronounced Guan in Mandarin. The spelling reflects Cantonese pronunciation and is common among Hong Kong and Macau residents as well as Chinese communities in the diaspora. Kwan may also derive from other characters that are romanized as Kwan in different Chinese dialects, though 關/關 remains the dominant source in contemporary usage. The name has spread widely through migration and is found across North America, Europe, and Southeast Asia where Cantonese-speaking communities are present.

As a given name, Kwan is far less common and is typically encountered in families that use it as part of a compound name or through transliteration variations in multilingual contexts.

Notable people with this surname include Michelle Kwan, an American figure skater and Olympic medalist. The surname appears in various professional fields among actors, scholars, and athletes in countries with significant Chinese communities.

Related spellings and cognate surnames include Guan (Mandarin pronunciation of 關), Quan (used in Vietnamese and other contexts), and Kwong (a Cantonese-derived surname with a different character).