[ 1 syll. van, va-n ] The baby boy name Van is sometimes used as a girl name. Its pronunciation is VaeN †. Van is used chiefly in the English language, and its origin is Celtic and Old English.The name is of debated origin; it could have first developed from Vance or Ivan.As a surname prefix, it means 'of' or 'from' in Dutch. In addition, Van is a variant of the name Donovan (English and Irish) in the English language. 1 syll. van, va-n ] The baby boy name Van is sometimes used as a girl name. Its pronunciation is VaeN †. Van is used chiefly in the English language, and its origin is Celtic and Old English.