Skip to main content

Updated June 9, 2019

Family name origins & meanings

  • Croatian and Serbian : nickname for someone with white or very fair hair or a pale complexion, from bijel, beo ‘white’.
  • Czech (Bělán) and Slovak (Belán) : nickname from Czech bílý , Slovak biely ‘white’, or derivative of the female personal name Běla (see Belin).
  • French (Bélan) : unexplained.
  • A bearer of the name Bélan was buried in Quebec city in 1688; his origins are unknown.

Subscribe to Family Education

Your partner in parenting from baby name inspiration to college planning.

Subscribe