Jan
Jan was given to 5 girls in 2025, #15,894 among girls’ names; 76,934 Americans have been recorded with it since 1902 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 56,500 Americans named Jan and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (74% of everyone recorded); the median is 68 years old and half are between 61 and 74.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Jan by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Jan mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Jan is “a female given name.” Its etymology gives the sense “John” (Jehan).
Also “a male given name from Dutch.”
From Old French Jehan (“John”). Doublet of John.
/d͡ʒæn/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Jan?
#15,894 among girls’ names, 2025
Jan fell from #12,298 in 2015 to #15,894 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 4.5 to 3.1 per million.
3,761 babies in 1954, the peak
Jan peaked in 1954, when 3,761 babies were given it (2,993 girls, #131 among girls’ names). The 52 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 1% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 5 | #15,894 | 47 | #2,731 |
| 2024 | under 5 | 66 | #2,198 | |
| 2023 | under 5 | 69 | #2,117 | |
| 2022 | under 5 | 68 | #2,156 | |
| 2021 | 5 | #16,255 | 62 | #2,261 |
| 2020 | 5 | #16,134 | 69 | #2,056 |
| 2019 | 5 | #16,555 | 54 | #2,471 |
| 2018 | under 5 | 82 | #1,842 | |
| 2017 | under 5 | 63 | #2,157 | |
| 2016 | 5 | #17,326 | 84 | #1,804 |
Every recorded year (119)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 8 | #12,298 | 93 | #1,685 |
| 2014 | under 5 | 84 | #1,787 | |
| 2013 | 7 | #13,760 | 112 | #1,469 |
| 2012 | 8 | #12,695 | 107 | #1,505 |
| 2011 | 7 | #13,942 | 116 | #1,426 |
| 2010 | 5 | #18,128 | 135 | #1,286 |
| 2009 | 8 | #12,940 | 160 | #1,143 |
| 2008 | under 5 | 206 | #971 | |
| 2007 | 6 | #16,309 | 189 | #1,014 |
| 2006 | 6 | #15,920 | 279 | #758 |
| 2005 | 10 | #10,430 | 215 | #856 |
| 2004 | 9 | #11,063 | 235 | #776 |
| 2003 | 10 | #9,974 | 191 | #884 |
| 2002 | 6 | #14,314 | 175 | #919 |
| 2001 | 15 | #7,096 | 214 | #789 |
| 2000 | 17 | #6,307 | 192 | #835 |
| 1999 | 8 | #10,735 | 107 | #1,196 |
| 1998 | 12 | #7,730 | 81 | #1,409 |
| 1997 | 15 | #6,290 | 77 | #1,413 |
| 1996 | 18 | #5,372 | 101 | #1,160 |
| 1995 | 27 | #3,919 | 107 | #1,097 |
| 1994 | 18 | #5,327 | 105 | #1,094 |
| 1993 | 16 | #5,769 | 95 | #1,148 |
| 1992 | 29 | #3,711 | 95 | #1,127 |
| 1991 | 41 | #2,852 | 101 | #1,078 |
| 1990 | 46 | #2,575 | 126 | #911 |
| 1989 | 46 | #2,487 | 102 | #1,016 |
| 1988 | 66 | #1,871 | 109 | #914 |
| 1987 | 75 | #1,636 | 101 | #939 |
| 1986 | 70 | #1,676 | 117 | #837 |
| 1985 | 90 | #1,414 | 131 | #775 |
| 1984 | 124 | #1,113 | 145 | #723 |
| 1983 | 143 | #1,001 | 113 | #823 |
| 1982 | 163 | #926 | 143 | #726 |
| 1981 | 163 | #921 | 118 | #809 |
| 1980 | 186 | #841 | 114 | #824 |
| 1979 | 197 | #800 | 132 | #756 |
| 1978 | 245 | #657 | 132 | #733 |
| 1977 | 231 | #679 | 112 | #807 |
| 1976 | 254 | #617 | 146 | #685 |
| 1975 | 262 | #606 | 97 | #848 |
| 1974 | 324 | #519 | 101 | #798 |
| 1973 | 295 | #559 | 124 | #724 |
| 1972 | 377 | #476 | 128 | #710 |
| 1971 | 412 | #477 | 143 | #693 |
| 1970 | 498 | #442 | 163 | #636 |
| 1969 | 569 | #398 | 163 | #611 |
| 1968 | 655 | #344 | 178 | #569 |
| 1967 | 746 | #317 | 178 | #560 |
| 1966 | 842 | #304 | 201 | #536 |
| 1965 | 937 | #285 | 219 | #519 |
| 1964 | 1,259 | #249 | 215 | #536 |
| 1963 | 1,562 | #218 | 229 | #526 |
| 1962 | 1,778 | #203 | 296 | #464 |
| 1961 | 2,032 | #188 | 348 | #426 |
| 1960 | 2,447 | #166 | 370 | #412 |
| 1959 | 2,587 | #161 | 392 | #402 |
| 1958 | 2,631 | #153 | 429 | #375 |
| 1957 | 2,991 | #140 | 430 | #371 |
| 1956 | 3,201 | #136 | 503 | #331 |
| 1955 | 2,768 | #138 | 655 | #279 |
| 1954 | 2,993 | #131 | 768 | #252 |
| 1953 | 2,607 | #140 | 580 | #292 |
| 1952 | 2,481 | #143 | 626 | #275 |
| 1951 | 2,185 | #145 | 732 | #248 |
| 1950 | 1,725 | #166 | 608 | #267 |
| 1949 | 1,522 | #180 | 551 | #289 |
| 1948 | 1,262 | #206 | 640 | #257 |
| 1947 | 1,358 | #196 | 676 | #254 |
| 1946 | 1,149 | #210 | 566 | #266 |
| 1945 | 864 | #221 | 496 | #263 |
| 1944 | 611 | #279 | 544 | #247 |
| 1943 | 641 | #278 | 551 | #256 |
| 1942 | 534 | #294 | 512 | #263 |
| 1941 | 445 | #306 | 459 | #259 |
| 1940 | 331 | #356 | 349 | #299 |
| 1939 | 304 | #378 | 308 | #315 |
| 1938 | 269 | #408 | 317 | #308 |
| 1937 | 239 | #418 | 245 | #348 |
| 1936 | 229 | #429 | 272 | #332 |
| 1935 | 188 | #465 | 196 | #389 |
| 1934 | 160 | #509 | 145 | #469 |
| 1933 | 115 | #608 | 86 | #625 |
| 1932 | 119 | #603 | 48 | #945 |
| 1931 | 104 | #650 | 49 | #930 |
| 1930 | 60 | #945 | 29 | #1,353 |
| 1929 | 46 | #1,084 | 28 | #1,356 |
| 1928 | 50 | #1,064 | 33 | #1,262 |
| 1927 | 49 | #1,094 | 23 | #1,620 |
| 1926 | 31 | #1,460 | 14 | #2,251 |
| 1925 | 31 | #1,481 | 26 | #1,475 |
| 1924 | 32 | #1,486 | 14 | #2,289 |
| 1923 | 13 | #2,648 | 21 | #1,721 |
| 1922 | 27 | #1,626 | 21 | #1,727 |
| 1921 | 25 | #1,743 | 18 | #1,944 |
| 1920 | 19 | #2,036 | 29 | #1,364 |
| 1919 | 12 | #2,721 | 24 | #1,507 |
| 1918 | 20 | #1,919 | 33 | #1,224 |
| 1917 | 20 | #1,807 | 22 | #1,560 |
| 1916 | 15 | #2,182 | 18 | #1,729 |
| 1915 | 11 | #2,609 | 22 | #1,484 |
| 1914 | 8 | #2,750 | 21 | #1,321 |
| 1913 | 8 | #2,433 | 11 | #1,739 |
| 1912 | 8 | #2,241 | 8 | #1,962 |
| 1911 | 8 | #1,860 | under 5 | |
| 1910 | under 5 | 9 | #1,159 | |
| 1909 | under 5 | 6 | #1,373 | |
| 1906 | under 5 | 5 | #1,331 | |
| 1902 | under 5 | 5 | #1,220 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Jan a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 76,934 Americans recorded as Jan, 71% are girls and 29% boys. Boys have outnumbered girls among babies named Jan every year since 1984. In 2025 it went to 5 girls and 47 boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Jan: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Jan, and how old are they?
56,500 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 74% of the 76,934 Americans ever recorded as Jan. The median Jan alive today is 68 years old; half are between 61 and 74.
The 2020 Census counted 81,839 people named Jan (55,871 women and girls, 25,968 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 61,774 born in the U.S. The Census count is 32% above that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census records the name people give, which for many is the short form Jan rather than the name on their birth record, and it counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 3,600 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 37,900 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 8,480 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 2,810 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,780 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 986 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Jan born?
The states with the most babies named Jan are California, Texas and New York, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 7,406 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Texas | 5,258 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| New York | 4,967 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Illinois | 4,115 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Pennsylvania | 3,848 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 3,760 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 3,260 | not ranked | 0.9× |
| Indiana | 2,316 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Florida | 1,999 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 1,981 | not ranked | 1.0× |
Where Jan is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Jan is most over-represented in Utah: since 1910 it was given 2.0 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Jan with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 79,957 babies since 1880, Jan is the most given (96% of them). In 2025 it was given to 52 of their 52 babies (100%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Jan
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Jan and names like it
- Compare Jan and JannBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sJan peaked in 1954.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Jan since 1910.
- Dutch namesWiktionary’s origin for Jan: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1954The year the most babies were named Jan.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Jan alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with JMost given first.