Conan is an Irish name, a diminutive of cú, which means "hound" or "wolf", so it is usually read as "little hound". It belongs to Arthur Conan Doyle, talk show host Conan O'Brien and the fictional Conan the Barbarian. Conan ranked number 3322 in the United States in 2000 and has moved up unevenly to number 1678 in 2025, its best rank so far, with 98 boys.