a japanese honorific, or suffix added to the end of one's name. chan is usually used when:

1. the person is a small child, ie, younger sibling or friends sibling

2. the person is cute, usually younger, usually a girl

3. can be used on pet cats, dogs, etc..

-chan is mostly used by those in the anime community in america. chan is not often used unless you are familiar with that person and they are younger then you, or they are someone you are familiar with's younger sibling. since chan can mean cute, some boys looking to be manly may be a bit offended by it. also, it should be noted that the suffix chan is used mostly among friends. you wouldnt greet a freshman you dont know as chan, but perhaps as <their name>-kohai. (kohai meaning something along the lines of lower classman)

"chan," usually used in the plural as "chans," can refer to the large array of English-language websites that were inspired by the japanese imageboard 2channel. The largest and most influential of the "chans" is the popular website 4chan, although there are many other similar websites such as 7chan, 420chan, wakachan, iichan, not4chan, gurochan, fchan, sidechan, renchan, and so on and so on.

Their characteristic features are anonymous posting, content being quickly deleted once it becomes old, "sage"-ing, and an idiosyncratic and strange culture.

A term in fan fiction- usually smut- to indicate that a character in the ship is underage, and still a child (under 18)

A Cantonese surname.
In Chinese, Chen.

suffix: often "-chan" to flavor someone's name. Chan in Japanese is a term of affection and usually in the feminine. Cute boys, harmless best friends, and other girls might have "-chan" added to their names by people into the anime/manga scene. High pitched voice is optional.

1. a japanese honorific
2. a common term used by white girls that have become overly obsessed with asian culture so that they have attempted to learn japanese and have inspired white guys to tattoo chinese characters on themselves and thus have invited all their other white friends to join this cult of fake asianness while calling each other by chan after their name
get a life.

also see: what annoys real asians

overly common Chinese last name.