'van' usually denotes that a person come from that family. Example: Aaron van Horne. Aaron came from the van Horne family. In Germany, they have the same idea, except with 'von' instead of 'van'.
As far as I am aware it is because in old stage coach days the lump that went over the drivers seat was called the `looting' and was where the more valuable cargo was stored which was called the...
Vans was the first company ever to create shoes for skateboarding, way back in 1966. vans a flat bottom shoe mint for skateboarding and they are sold at most places but can cost any were for 20-200$...