Jan
Pronounced JH AE1 N (ARPABET)
- 1 syllable
- Peaked 1956
- 111 years in use
- 3 spellings
How popular is Jan?
Jan is a name given to both boys and girls, and first appears in 1911. It has been given to 82,910 children — the 496th most common girls' name on record.
It is still recorded, but barely: 43 births across the past decade, against a peak of 3,337 in a single year. That peak was in 1956.
Three other spellings are counted in that total — Jahn, Jann and Jaan — because they are pronounced identically.
Roughly 32% of children named Jan are boys, so the split is a real one rather than a rounding error.
Spelling variants
These spellings sound identical to Jan and are counted together with it, which is why the totals here are higher than a single-spelling count.
- Jahn
- Jann
- Jaan
Characteristics
- 1 syllable
Phonetic detail
- Pronunciations:
- JH AE1 N · Y AA1 N
- Stress pattern:
- 1 · 1
- Syllables:
- 1
Stress digits mark unstressed (0), primary (1) and secondary (2) syllables.
Names like Jan
Same first letter and syllable count, peaking around the same time.
Sibling names for Jan
Names from the same era with a matching rhythm but a different initial.
Frequently asked questions
- How popular is the name Jan?
- Jan ranks 496th among girls' names in US records, with 82,910 births since 1911. Over the past decade it accounts for 43.
- Is Jan a unisex name?
- Yes. About 32% of children given the name are boys, which is a genuine split rather than a rounding error.
- When was Jan most popular?
- 1956, when 3,337 children were given the name. It has been in use for 111 years and is still recorded as of 2024.
- How else is Jan spelled?
- Jahn, Jann, Jaan. All of these sound the same and are counted together in the totals on this page.