Gan 간 — Korean last name
Is Gan a Korean last name?
Yes. Gan (Hangul: 간, Hanja: 簡) is a Korean family name recorded in the 2015 South Korean census with 2,525 holders, making it the #113 most common of the 191 surnames counted. Roughly one in every 19,685 South Koreans is a Gan. It is a rare surname; most Koreans have never met a Gan.
How to write Gan in Korean
In Hangul, Gan is written 간. The same Hangul syllable is used by 2 different Hanja (Chinese characters): 簡, 間. Each character is technically a separate surname with its own clans and ancestry, even though they sound identical and are romanized the same way. The most common by far is 簡.
What does Gan mean?
The character 簡 means simple, plain, a letter. As with most Korean surnames, the meaning comes from the Chinese character rather than from the Korean sound, so it says something about how the name was first written down (often a place, a virtue, an object or a Chinese dynasty) rather than describing the family. Koreans rarely think about the literal meaning of a surname in daily life, but it matters for genealogy and for choosing given names that pair well with it.
How common is Gan?
Gan is rare Korean surname. Just above it in the rankings is Paeng (2,935) and just below it is Sang (2,416). For comparison, Kim, the most common surname, has 10,689,967 holders. All figures come from Statistics Korea's 2015 Population and Housing Census, which only counts surnames held by five or more people.
Spellings and romanization
Gan is the spelling most Korean families use on passports and in English. The official Revised Romanization (used by the South Korean government since 2000) is Gan, and the older McCune–Reischauer system gives Kan. Other spellings you will see in real life include Khan, Kahn, Kann. The variety exists because Korean passport rules let each family choose its own romanization, so spellings drifted over generations of emigration; in Korean, every one of these is the same 간.
How to pronounce Gan
Gan (간) is pronounced roughly as the Revised Romanization "Gan" reads, with even stress on each syllable — Korean does not stress one syllable over another the way English does. Vowels are pure and short: "eo" is the "u" in "sun", "eu" is a tight "oo" with unrounded lips, and "ae" rhymes with "day".
Related Korean surnames
Frequently asked questions about Gan
Is Gan a Korean or Chinese last name?
Gan as spelled is Korean (간). The Hanja 簡 is also used as a surname in China and Vietnam, but with different romanizations. The families are not related.
How many people have the last name Gan?
2,525 people in South Korea had the surname Gan (간) in the 2015 census, or under 0.01% of the population. That makes it the #113 most common Korean surname.
How do you write Gan in Korean?
Gan is written 간 in Hangul. In Hanja it is 簡 or 間, which are separate lineages sharing one pronunciation.
What does the Korean last name Gan mean?
The Hanja 簡 means "simple, plain, a letter". Korean surname meanings come from the Chinese character the name is written with, not from the Korean sound.
Is Gan a rare Korean last name?
Yes. With 2,525 holders it ranks #113 of 191 — well outside the common surnames. See our list of rare Korean last names for others like it.
Source: Statistics Korea (KOSIS), 2015 Population and Housing Census, surnames by Hangul with five or more holders (total population 49,705,663). Hanja meanings from standard Hanja dictionaries. Check another surname.