boy's name
Cuan
KOO-an
- Origin Irish
- Gender Boy
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (Ireland)
- Births on record 906
Northern Ireland
#102
2024 births
Cuan is a boy's name of Irish origin meaning "harbor" or "little hound," depending on which reading you take. It ranks 102nd in Northern Ireland and is at its peak in our records now.
- Cuan is a name of Irish origin.
- Peaked in Ireland in 2025, when 101 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in Ireland.
- Today about 1 in 2,492 babies in Ireland is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1982.
Cuan over time
Births per decade in Ireland, 1980s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1980s | 6 |
| 1990s | 8 |
| 2000s | 76 |
| 2010s | 205 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 457 |
What Cuan means
Cuan has two readings that cannot be separated. The modern Irish cuan is a harbor or bay; the older personal name is generally taken as a diminutive of cú, a hound or wolf, giving little hound.
Where Cuan comes from
Cuan runs down two lines that modern use has merged. The older is the personal name Cuán, a diminutive of cú, a hound or wolf — the same root behind Conan, Conor and Conall — and several early saints and a tenth-century abbot of Louth carried it. The other is the ordinary Irish noun cuan, a harbor or bay, which appears across the coast in place names like Cuan Bhaile Átha Cliath, Dublin Bay. Parents choosing it today are as likely to mean the harbor as the hound, and Irish reference works give both without deciding. The name is also unrelated to the Vietnamese Cuong and to the Spanish Juan, both of which are occasionally offered as connections and are separate names entirely.
Cuan in use
Cuan ranks 102nd in Northern Ireland with 23 births in 2024 and 135th in Ireland with 101 births in 2025, and it is at its peak in our records this year. Our records carry it from 1982. It barely appears elsewhere at 3,726th in England and Wales, which puts it among the names that have not left the island.
How popular is Cuan?
In 2025, Cuan was given to 18 babies in Ireland, ranking #252 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Cuan is used
Irish figures withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. The Central Statistics Office began recording the síneadh fada in 2018, so accented and unaccented spellings are counted separately from that year on. Data & sources.
How Cuan is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Cuán | Cuán is Cuan written with a fada, used in Ireland, where it ranks #141. | 214 |
| Cúan | Cúan is Cuan written with a fada, used in Ireland, where it ranks #135. | 157 |
| Cúán | Cúán is a rare spelling of Cuan, written with a fada and recorded 21 times, mostly in Ireland. | 21 |
Names that peaked alongside Cuan
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Cuan also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Cuan over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Cuan in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Cuan
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Cuan — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Cuan
What does the name Cuan mean?
Either "harbor," from the modern Irish cuan, or "little hound," from the older personal name. Both are in use.
How do you pronounce Cuan?
KOO-an, two syllables.
Is Cuan related to Conor?
Under the hound reading, yes — both build on cú, a hound or wolf.
How popular is Cuan?
102nd in Northern Ireland and 135th in Ireland.
Is Cuan a girl's or a boy's name?
Cuan is given almost entirely to boys in birth records.
Is Cuan a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Cuan currently ranks #102 in Ireland. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.