Anonymous wrote:It's short for Donovan.

Just realized I never updated from two YEARS ago! Turns out we LOVED Donovan and that's what our toddler is named. Fits him perfectly!

Anonymous wrote:My son’s name is Evan and I call him Ev. Would never consider calling him Van. Ever. Ugly name to me.

Lol, Evan is a very ugly name to my ear. Van is so much better.

I know a boy with the name, and I never really thought much about it one way or the other, apart from being vaguely hipsterish . It’s fine if you want to use it.

If you have it as a second name then people will assume you are Dutch and that it is part of the last name
Van der Linden
van der Meter
van Damme
van Wyk

At least it is better than the German von

I think of it as a cool surfer dude name.

I like it. Isn’t it also sometimes spelled Vanne as a surname-turned-first name?

Van is better than Cam

IMO

I always assume it is a nickname for someone with a Dutch surname (eg, van Buren) like Mick is a nickname for McDonough or the like.

Grew up with a kid named Vance who went by Van.

I like it. Masculine.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it’s an Asian name.

My best friend when I was little was a Vietnamese girl named Van, so I always think if it as female.

Van is also an extremely common (but considered somewhat old fashioned these days) middle name for Vietnames boys. Up until the mid-late 20th century, almost all boys would have Van as a middle name and girls would have Thi.

I would immediately think "mini van" or "Vans" like the shoes.

Van Montgomery

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:for a boy or girl? I met a "Van" and it was short for Evangeline.

For a boy. We’ve narrowed it down to Van or Cameron (Cam).

Which is also an increasingly popular girls name, I applaud your gender neutral naming.

Van is a common Vietnamese name, so expect a lot of fluid expectations on his identity.

Anonymous wrote:for a boy or girl? I met a "Van" and it was short for Evangeline.

For a boy. We’ve narrowed it down to Van or Cameron (Cam).