The Guan surname

In the 2010 U.S. Census, 7,247 people carried this name — #4,867 among all U.S. surnames, about 1 in every 40,700 people counted. That is up 77% from 4,087 in 2000.

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Where the name comes from

The origin of the Guan surname

From any of four Chinese surnames: 關／关 (guān), 官 (guān), 管 (guǎn), or 灌 (guàn).

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary (en.wiktionary.org) — entry «Guan» (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 717 people named Guan 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 map

Where they live today

Buenos Aires Province 314
Santa Fe 131
City of Buenos Aires 71
Córdoba 52
Neuquén 49
Santiago del Estero 23
Chubut 23
Río Negro 19

RENAPER (National Registry of Persons, Argentina), surnames of residents by province, December 2021 — CC BY 4.0.

In Switzerland’s population statistics

47 people named Guan live in Switzerland.

They live in 4 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

Zurich 20
Geneva 13
Vaud 11
Valais 3

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

88 people named Guan is counted in Sweden.

Sweden’s figure is from 31 December 2022, the last count Statistics Sweden published.

Counted, by country

Sweden (2022) 88

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

Guan in American newspapers,
1911.

Newspaper page from The Baraboo News carrying the name Guan
The Baraboo News 1911-06-01

Chronicling America, Library of Congress — digitised newspapers in the public domain.

In print

Guan in Australian newspapers,
1840s–1980s.

1,091 articles name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Guan. The most, 222, date from the 1940s. Weighed against how much of each state’s press from the same decades has been digitised, it stands out most in New South Wales, at 1.7 times its expected share.

Articles, by state

New South Wales 640
Victoria 179
South Australia 99
Queensland 78
Tasmania 53
Western Australia 18
ACT (Canberra) 9
Northern Territory 1

Trove, National Library of Australia (trove.nla.gov.au) · articles in its digitised newspapers that name a Mr, Mrs or Miss Guan.

Who carried it

People named Guan,
with a public archive behind them.

  • Guan Hai d. 193 · military personnel
  • Guan Shaoning d. 1645 · politician
  • Guan Lu d. 1052
  • Guan Yongjie d. 1642
  • Guan Zhuan d. 1652
  • Wan Mou d. 717

Wikidata (CC0) · 10 lives in all are documented under this name.

In the public record

People named Guan,
in the records of 3 countries.

Soldiers, farmers, migrants and neighbours who carried the name and left a trace in public archives. Everyone shown here died long ago or was born more than a century ago.

United States23 records

23 records of the Guan name in the United States
  • U.S. alien registration index, 1940–1955 11
  • Passenger arrivals in the United States, 1820–1912 7
  • U.S. Army enlistment records, World War II 3
  • Irish Famine arrivals at New York, 1846–1851 2
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Siegler Guan

    Arrived at New York in 1891 aboard the Rhaetia from Hamburg and Havre, aged 31; laborer. From Wurttemberg, Germany; bound for New York.

    U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted)
  2. A United States Selective Service registration card, 1942
    Example: U.S. registration card, 1942
    Military record Thomas S. Guan

    Born 1924 in New Jersey. Enlisted 1943 at Newark; driver from Mercer County.

    U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain)
  3. The receipt card sent under the U.S. Alien Registration Act of 1940
    Example: U.S. alien registration card, 1940s
    Alien registration Chin M. Guan

    Born 1881 in China. Registered as a foreign national in Boston, Massachusetts, under the Alien Registration Act of 1940.

    U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain)

Showing 3 of 23 records for Guan in the United States.

Counts: U.S. National Archives, Flexoline Index Data File (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Castle Garden Immigration Center Collection, Ship Passenger Records (unrestricted) · U.S. National Archives, WWII Army Enlistment Records (public domain) · U.S. National Archives, Famine Irish Passenger Records (public domain). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); U.S. Selective Service registration card, 1942 (public domain); Alien Registration Receipt Card, Form AR-3, photo by Bobjgalindo via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY 4.0).

Australia5 records

5 records of the Guan name in Australia
  • Victoria passenger lists, 1839–1923 3
  • NSW convict, estate and railway indexes 2
  1. A passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, arriving at New York in 1903
    Example: passenger manifest, 1903
    Passenger record Wm Guan

    Arrived in Victoria in 1852 aboard the Lord Warriston, aged 22; Scottish.

    Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0)
  2. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record John Guan

    Of Dog Trap, New South Wales; died 1894.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)
  3. A page of the Berlin civil register, 1880
    Example: civil register, 1880
    Death record Charles Henry Guan

    Of Greenwich and Australian Imperial Forces, New South Wales; died 1919.

    Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY)

Showing 3 of 5 records for Guan in Australia.

Counts: Public Record Office Victoria (CC BY 4.0) · Museums of History NSW – State Archives Collection (CC BY). Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Passenger manifest of the S.S. St. Paul, New York, 1903 (public domain); Civil register, Berlin, 1880, Landesarchiv Berlin (CC0).

Canada3 records

3 records of the Guan name in Canada City of Calgary cemetery records
  1. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Xin Shang Guan

    Buried in 2001 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 81.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  2. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Eleanor Guan

    Buried in 1936 at Burnsland Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.
  3. Fairview Lawn Cemetery in Halifax, Nova Scotia
    Example: Canadian cemetery
    Burial record Rong Zhan Guan

    Buried in 1991 at Queen's Park Cemetery, Calgary, Alberta, aged 75.

    City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary.

Counts: City of Calgary. Contains information licensed under the Open Government Licence – City of Calgary. Example pages, not the records of the people shown: Fairview Lawn Cemetery, Halifax, photo by Edgar El (CC BY 3.0).

Nearby in the index

Surnames next to Guan.

When the index is not enough

This page says where Guan 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.

See the Guan volume
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