[2][3] As a Japanese surname, Kan may be written using multiple kanji (e.g. 菅, 簡, 韓, 寛).
The bearers of this surname in Korea identify with a number of bon-gwan, which are hometowns of a clan lineage.
[1] The 2000 South Korean census found 2,429 people in 753 households with the surname spelled Gan in Revised Romanization.
[6] The 2010 United States Census found 3,005 people with the surname Kan, making it the 10,647th-most-common name in the country.
In both censuses, about four-fifths of the bearers of the surname identified as Asian, and one-tenth as White.