‘ And they called the name of the city Dan, after the name of Dan their father, who was born in Israel. However, the name of the city was Laish at first.'
They renamed the city Dan after the name of Jacob's son Dan, their ancestor, although previously it had always been called Laish. It is interesting that Laish means ‘a lion' and that Dan was ‘a lion's whelp' (Deuteronomy 33:22) although the word for lion is different demonstrating that the two are not directly connected.
“Born in Israel.” There may be a hint here that they were seeking to opt out of Israel.