Ban

Hungarian, Serbian, and Croatian: from Slavic ban or Hungarian bán ‘governor’ (from Avar bajan ‘rich’, ‘rich man’), historically a status name for a regional military or administrative leader (for example the governor of Croatia in the Habsburg Empire).

Slovenian: probably from a reduced form of the personal name Urban.

German: variant spelling of Bann.

Japanese: ‘comrade’. This name is found mostly in eastern Japan. Some families pronounce the same character as Tomo.

Chinese 班: according to legend, during the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BC), a noble of the state of Chu was raised and suckled by a tiger. This tiger's skin bore markings that resembled the character for Ban, and his descendants adopted this character, which may also mean ‘team’, ‘class’, ‘group’ as their surname.

Korean: variant of Pan.