Chan

Chan is a unisex given name: about 76% of people named Chan are men and 24% are women, so a gendered salutation is a coin flip and the neutral form is the safe choice.

Mostly maleHigh

Male 76%Female 24%

Verdict: Mostly male
Male / female split: 76% male / 24% female
Confidence: High (64 or more weighted country observations)
Most common in: Korea, United States, China
US births since 1880: 990 male / 212 female
Data: nam_dict (GFDL) + US SSA
Updated: 2026-09-11

How to address Chan

To address Chan when you do not know their gender, use the full name with no title: "Dear Chan," in English, "Guten Tag Chan," in German. About 76% of people named Chan are men and 24% are women, so a gendered salutation is close to a coin flip, and the neutral form above is the safer choice.

Ready-made greetings in six languages

English

Dear Chan,

German

Guten Tag Chan,

French

Bonjour Chan,

Spanish

Estimado/a Chan:

Chinese

Chan您好：

Japanese

Chan様

English

Hi Chan,

German

Hi Chan,

French

Salut Chan,

Spanish

Hola Chan,

Chinese

Chan你好：

Japanese

Chanさん

Greeting generator

This is a statistical estimate, not a statement about the gender, identity or correct form of address of any particular person.

Country breakdown

Gender of the name Chan by country (nam_dict, 55 country columns)
Country	How common	Usually	Male share
Korea	common	man's name	75%
United States	uncommon	man's name	82%
China	rare	unisex name	50%

United States birth data

990 male · 212 female · 1,202 births recorded

Male 82%Female 18%

Since 1980: 75% male.

Frequently asked questions

Is Chan a male or female name?

Chan is a unisex given name: about 76% of people named Chan are men and 24% are women, so a gendered salutation is a coin flip and the neutral form is the safe choice.

How do I address Chan in an email?

Is Chan a unisex name?

Chan is not a unisex name: 76% of people named Chan are men. Chan leans strongly male overall.

Sources

Gender by country: nam_dict, the c't first-names dictionary by Joerg Michael, roughly 44,000 names across 55 countries, licensed GFDL. US frequencies: United States Social Security Administration baby-name data, public domain. Method: how we classify names. Full dataset: data & licences. Data built 2026-09-11.

Cite this page

DearWho, "Is Chan a male or female name?", https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/chan (accessed 2026-09-11). Data: nam_dict (J. Michael, GFDL) and US SSA, built 2026-09-11.

BibTeX

@misc{dearwho_chan,
  title  = {Is Chan a male or female name?},
  author = {{DearWho}},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/chan},
  note   = {Data: nam_dict (GFDL), US SSA public domain}
}