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Updated January 3, 2024

Table of contents

Boy name origins & meanings

  • Hawaiian : Long-awaited child

Boy name variations

Family name origins & meanings

  • Hungarian (Bán) : from the old Hungarian personal name Bán.
  • Hungarian, Serbian, and Croatian : from Slavic ban or Hungarian bán ‘governor’ (from Avar bajan ‘rich’, ‘rich man’), historically a status name for a regional military or administrative leader (for example the governor of Croatia in the Habsburg Empire).
  • Slovenian : probably from a reduced form of the personal name Urban.
  • German : variant spelling of Bann.
  • Japanese : ‘comrade’. This name is found mostly in eastern Japan. Some families pronounce the same character as Tomo.
  • Chinese : according to legend, during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 bc), a noble of the state of Chu was raised and suckled by a tiger. This tiger’s skin bore markings that resembled the character for Ban, and his descendants adopted this character, which may also mean ‘team’, ‘class’, ‘group’ as their surname.
  • Korean : variant of Pan.

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