The Galan surname
In the 2010 U.S. Census, 8,293 people carried this name — #4,289 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 35,600 people counted. That is up 37% from 6,057 in 2000.
What the name means
The meaning of the Galan surname
From Spanish Galán, from galán (“gallant”).
From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Galan» (English), by Wiktionary contributors · licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0) · excerpt, lightly adapted.
In Argentina’s national register
At least 4,475 people named Galan live in Argentina.
RENAPER only publishes a name in a province when more than ten people there share it, so the real number is higher. Most of them live in Buenos Aires Province.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.
In Poland’s population register
1,587 people named Galan have a registered home in Poland.
Of the 1,765 in Poland’s national register, these are the ones with a permanent address on file. They live in all 16 of Poland’s voivodeships, most of all in Lublin.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they live today
PESEL register, Ministry of Digital Affairs of Poland (dane.gov.pl) — CC0 · living people by voivodeship of permanent residence, 20 January 2026.
In France’s civil register
France’s register of deaths holds 835 people named Galan.
125 of them were born outside France. Those born in France came from 57 départements, most often Hautes-Pyrénées.
Where it concentrates, on the mapWhere they were born
Fichier des personnes décédées, INSEE — Licence Ouverte 2.0 · deaths recorded in France since 1970, by place of birth.
In Switzerland’s population statistics
138 people named Galan live in Switzerland.
They live in 10 of Switzerland’s 26 cantons, most of all in Zurich.
Too few records to say where it concentrates region by region — these are plain counts, not shares.
Where they live today
Swiss Federal Statistical Office (FSO), «Surnames of the permanent resident population by canton», 2025, opendata.swiss/en/dataset/nachnamen-der-standigen-wohnbevolkerung-nach-kanton3 · names with fewer than 3 bearers in a canton are not published.
In the Nordic population registers
22 people named Galan is counted in Sweden.
Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.
Counted, by country
Own calculations based on data from Statistics Sweden (SCB), surnames with at least two bearers, 31 December 2022 — CC BY 4.0 (names with 20 or more bearers shown).
In print
Galan in American newspapers,
1913–1915.
Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain · 10,881 pages in all carry the name.
Who carried it
People named Galan,
with a public archive behind them.
-
Volodymyr Galan 1893–1987 · military personnel -
Yaroslav Halan 1902–1949 · writer -
Augie Galan 1912–1993 · baseball player -
Cees de Galan 1932–1987 · economist -
Giancarlo Galan 1956– · politician -
František Galan 1908–1945 · politician
Wikidata and Wikimedia Commons (CC0) · 33 lives in all are documented under this name.
Nearby in the index
Surnames next to Galan.
- Gajan 117 · U.S. census
- Gajda 792 · U.S. census
- Gajewski 2,588 · U.S. census
- Gajic 199 · U.S. census
- Gal 1,179 · U.S. census
- Gala 1,095 · U.S. census
- Galano 605 · U.S. census
- Galant 475 · U.S. census
- Galante 4,038 · U.S. census
- Galanti 498 · U.S. census
- Galardi 407 · U.S. census
- Galas 731 · U.S. census
When the index is not enough
This page says where Galan is.
A volume says what happened to it.
Every page in the index is free and stays free. The Heritage Volume is the long form: the full paper trail, the arms, the crossing — bound, and yours.