Shan

Shan is a unisex given name: about 66% of people named Shan are men and 34% are women, so a gendered salutation is a coin flip and the neutral form is the safe choice.

Mostly maleMedium

Male 66%Female 34%

Verdict: Mostly male
Male / female split: 66% male / 34% female
Confidence: Medium (8 to 63 weighted country observations)
Most common in: United States, China, India and Sri Lanka
US births since 1880: 2,160 male / 864 female
Data: nam_dict (GFDL) + US SSA
Updated: 2026-09-11

How to address Shan

To address Shan when you do not know their gender, use the full name with no title: "Dear Shan," in English, "Guten Tag Shan," in German. About 66% of people named Shan are men and 34% 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 Shan,

German

Guten Tag Shan,

French

Bonjour Shan,

Spanish

Estimado/a Shan:

Chinese

Shan您好：

Japanese

Shan様

English

Hi Shan,

German

Hi Shan,

French

Salut Shan,

Spanish

Hola Shan,

Chinese

Shan你好：

Japanese

Shan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 Shan by country (nam_dict, 55 country columns)
Country	How common	Usually	Male share
United States	uncommon	man's name	71%
China	uncommon	unisex name	50%
India and Sri Lanka	rare	man's name	98%

United States birth data

2,160 male · 864 female · 3,024 births recorded

Male 71%Female 29%

Since 1980: 89% male.

Frequently asked questions

Is Shan a male or female name?

Shan is a unisex given name: about 66% of people named Shan are men and 34% are women, so a gendered salutation is a coin flip and the neutral form is the safe choice.

How do I address Shan in an email?

Is Shan a unisex name?

Shan is not a unisex name: 66% of people named Shan are men. Shan 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 Shan a male or female name?", https://dearwho.vercel.app/name/shan (accessed 2026-09-11). Data: nam_dict (J. Michael, GFDL) and US SSA, built 2026-09-11.

BibTeX

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