dan
n. countablen. a common short name for a man named Daniel.
n. a masculine given name, typically used as a diminutive or hypocorism of Daniel.
Dan is my best friend from school.
After the meeting, Dan stayed behind to help the team clean up the conference room.
While his legal documents all list him as Daniel, he has gone by Dan since his early childhood and prefers it in all professional correspondence.
Traditionally held to be derived from Hebrew דָּן (Dan), although recent scholars instead link the name to Denyen, the Sea Peoples.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Usage
Used as a proper noun; it is capitalized in all contexts.
Last updated May 2, 2026