Jan (Indo-Iranian)

Jan (Persian: جان, romanized: jān, pronounced [dʒɑːn]) or jaan is the Indo-Iranian word for 'soul' or 'life'. It is notably used in Persian/ Kurmanji Kurdish as a diminutive suffix attached to names and expressing intimacy, with a meaning roughly equivalent to "darling, dear". The word has also been borrowed in numerous languages of West, Central and South Asia where it is also used in various terms of endearment: e.g. Armenian ջան, Azerbaijani, Bengali language জান (Jan) and Turkish canım, Uzbek jonim, Hindi and Urdu mērī jān (मेरी जान/میری جان), all meaning 'my life'. Jan is also used as a given name in Greater Iran, Kurdistan and it is a surname in Pashto.

Given name

• Jan Nisar Akhtar, Indian poet
• Jan Fishan Khan, Afghan warlord
• Jan Mohammad Jamali, Baluch Sardar
• Jan Muhammad Junejo, Khilafat Movement leader
• Jan Mohammed Khan, Afghan politician
• Jan Uddin, British-Bangladeshi actor and model

Middle name

• Ahmed Jan Thirakwa, Indian musician
• Mohabbat Jan Chowdhury, Bangladeshi major general and minister
• Sarwar Jan Chowdhury, Bangladeshi former member of parliament
• Sarwar Jan Miah, Bangladeshi politician and lawyer

Surname

• Ahmad Jan (Bagram detainee), Afghan detainee
• Ahmad Jan (Taliban governor), Afghan governor
• Khwaja Yusuf Jan, Bengali aristocrat and politician
• Lalak Jan, Pakistani military personnel
• Maulana Hassan Jan, Assassinated Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam politician
• Mian Shakirullah Jan, Pashtun judge and member of the PCO Judges case protest

Variants

Among Turkic peoples, Jan (in different spellings) is also used as a suffix in two-part names.

• Ali Babacan, Turkish politician
• Fikri Alican, Turkish scientist
• Kerimcan Durmaz, Turkish internet celebrity
• Aisa Hakimcan, Finnish Tatar artist
• Alimjan Idris, Tatar theologian
• Ğalimcan İbrahimov, Tatar writer
• Hamid Olimjon, Uzbek poet
• Rustam Kasimdzhanov, Uzbek chess player

See also

• Can (name)
• Jan (disambiguation)