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| Fans at a recital in Buenos Aires, Argentina |
The use of fan to describe a keen admirer of someone/something is described by most major dictionaries as a short form of the Latin fanatic, which was first widely used in English in the mid 16th century.
Fanatic originally referred the idea of the sacred [Latin fanum, poetic English fane]. The modern sense of "extremely zealous" dates from around 1647; the use of fanatic as a noun dates from 1650.We still use fanatic for someone "marked by excessive enthusiasm and often intense uncritical devotion". It comes from the Modern Latin fanaticus, meaning "insanely but divinely inspired". That seems a little strong for the supporter who buys the t-shirt but stops short of the facial tattoo.
Are all fans fanatics?
For non-fanatical fans there is alternative etymological route vi the term fancy - see here.