Vance
A surname most often treated as a form of Vann or Vans, especially in English and Scottish usage.
The #737 most common surname in the United States (2010 Census) — about 1 in every 6,524 Americans shares it.
Etymology
The strongest historical clue links Vance to Vann/Vans, which some nineteenth-century writers treated as the base form. Harrison notes it as a variant of Vannes or Vans, and also points to possible influence from French surnames such as Vannier, ultimately tied to winnowing baskets and grain work. Because the early evidence is mixed, the name may be a variant spelling rather than a single fixed surname with one origin.
History
The surname appears in English-language records as Vance, Vans, and related spellings, especially in Scotland and Ireland. Nineteenth-century surname writers often grouped it with a wider cluster of names beginning Van-, Vann-, and Vance, but their explanations vary and are not fully consistent. In modern use, Vance is established as an independent surname, especially in the United States and Britain.
Origin
Regions
Variant spellings
Fun fact
A major surname dictionary by Harrison explicitly cross-references Vance under related forms rather than giving it a single standalone origin, which is a good clue that the name was historically fluid.
From the historical record
“Cp. Fann(e. VANCE for Vannes or Vans, pi. of Van(n, q.v. VANDERBILT (Dut.) Of the Heap: v. the Appendix of Foreign Names. VANNER (A.-Fr.-Lat.) Winnower [M.E. van- ner(e (cp. Fr. vanneur) : v. Van(n, and-f the E. agent, suff. -er, earlier -ere\ Sporadically this name may be for the Fr. vannier, 'basket-maker' [f Fr.…”
— Surnames of the United Kingdom: a concise etymological dictionary (2 vols in 1)