Vana Surname: Origin, Meaning & Coat of Arms

People named Vana share a Russian surname with a long history. In Elsdon Smith's reading, the name described “descendant of Vanya, a pet form of Ivan (gracious gift of Jehovah)”.

Where the name comes from

It is a patronymic: it named a person after a father or forebear.

Vana by the numbers

The Census Bureau's 2010 surname file lists Vana with 808 bearers, at rank 29,279. Names that sound alike, such as Viana, Vianna and Vann, are easily confused in old records.

Heraldry and the Vana name

Sharing the Vana name is not the same as sharing a crest; arms were granted to individual families.

Get the complete Vana report, with a museum-style coat of arms.