Van

Van is a given name with multiple independent origins. As an English name, it originated as a short form of names beginning with Van-, such as Vance or Evan, and also became a standalone given name in American usage during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, associated with surnames of Dutch origin where van functions as a preposition meaning from or of, indicating geographical origin. In Vietnamese tradition, Van is an independent given name meaning literary, cultured, or cloud, written with different characters depending on meaning. Related forms include Vance and the Dutch surname prefix van, which appears in many personal names across European traditions.