Jana
Jana was given to 181 girls in 2025, #1,247 among girls’ names; 46,223 Americans have been recorded with it since 1921 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 41,500 Americans named Jana and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (90% of everyone recorded); the median is 52 years old and half are between 39 and 63.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Jana by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Jana mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Jana is “a female given name from Czech.” Its etymology gives the sense “God is gracious” (literally).
From Czech Jana, ultimately from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets. As a placeholder name, cf. similar use of John and Jack and earlier use of Joan in the same role. Doublet of Ivana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Jana?
#1,247 among girls’ names, 2025
Jana fell from #1,009 in 2015 to #1,247 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 0.15 to 0.11 per 1,000.
1,456 babies in 1961, the peak
Jana peaked in 1961, when 1,456 girls were given it, #226 among girls’ names. The 181 births of 2025 are 12% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 181 | #1,247 | 0.11 |
| 2024 | 171 | #1,339 | 0.11 |
| 2023 | 200 | #1,201 | 0.12 |
| 2022 | 214 | #1,140 | 0.13 |
| 2021 | 228 | #1,090 | 0.14 |
| 2020 | 234 | #1,062 | 0.14 |
| 2019 | 237 | #1,066 | 0.14 |
| 2018 | 269 | #983 | 0.16 |
| 2017 | 292 | #916 | 0.17 |
| 2016 | 301 | #917 | 0.17 |
Every recorded year (104)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 266 | #1,009 | 0.15 |
| 2014 | 229 | #1,110 | 0.13 |
| 2013 | 244 | #1,021 | 0.14 |
| 2012 | 238 | #1,058 | 0.14 |
| 2011 | 213 | #1,151 | 0.12 |
| 2010 | 242 | #1,032 | 0.14 |
| 2009 | 239 | #1,069 | 0.13 |
| 2008 | 226 | #1,140 | 0.12 |
| 2007 | 247 | #1,062 | 0.13 |
| 2006 | 245 | #1,047 | 0.13 |
| 2005 | 252 | #973 | 0.14 |
| 2004 | 250 | #959 | 0.14 |
| 2003 | 218 | #1,049 | 0.12 |
| 2002 | 254 | #887 | 0.14 |
| 2001 | 235 | #939 | 0.13 |
| 2000 | 229 | #937 | 0.13 |
| 1999 | 247 | #872 | 0.14 |
| 1998 | 248 | #858 | 0.14 |
| 1997 | 231 | #877 | 0.13 |
| 1996 | 234 | #852 | 0.13 |
| 1995 | 271 | #752 | 0.15 |
| 1994 | 260 | #785 | 0.15 |
| 1993 | 305 | #702 | 0.17 |
| 1992 | 340 | #658 | 0.18 |
| 1991 | 383 | #593 | 0.20 |
| 1990 | 433 | #545 | 0.23 |
| 1989 | 481 | #488 | 0.26 |
| 1988 | 505 | #447 | 0.28 |
| 1987 | 582 | #395 | 0.33 |
| 1986 | 677 | #352 | 0.39 |
| 1985 | 696 | #338 | 0.40 |
| 1984 | 757 | #314 | 0.45 |
| 1983 | 741 | #310 | 0.44 |
| 1982 | 843 | #291 | 0.50 |
| 1981 | 939 | #267 | 0.56 |
| 1980 | 1,046 | #246 | 0.63 |
| 1979 | 1,161 | #226 | 0.72 |
| 1978 | 959 | #248 | 0.63 |
| 1977 | 949 | #261 | 0.62 |
| 1976 | 798 | #288 | 0.54 |
| 1975 | 821 | #291 | 0.56 |
| 1974 | 801 | #298 | 0.55 |
| 1973 | 827 | #289 | 0.57 |
| 1972 | 863 | #291 | 0.57 |
| 1971 | 964 | #292 | 0.58 |
| 1970 | 1,025 | #286 | 0.59 |
| 1969 | 1,008 | #281 | 0.60 |
| 1968 | 1,011 | #269 | 0.62 |
| 1967 | 1,074 | #255 | 0.65 |
| 1966 | 1,138 | #250 | 0.67 |
| 1965 | 1,094 | #260 | 0.62 |
| 1964 | 1,227 | #252 | 0.65 |
| 1963 | 1,311 | #240 | 0.68 |
| 1962 | 1,313 | #242 | 0.67 |
| 1961 | 1,456 | #226 | 0.72 |
| 1960 | 980 | #295 | 0.48 |
| 1959 | 938 | #296 | 0.46 |
| 1958 | 910 | #296 | 0.45 |
| 1957 | 848 | #316 | 0.41 |
| 1956 | 841 | #305 | 0.42 |
| 1955 | 868 | #295 | 0.44 |
| 1954 | 846 | #293 | 0.44 |
| 1953 | 655 | #319 | 0.35 |
| 1952 | 500 | #370 | 0.27 |
| 1951 | 371 | #433 | 0.21 |
| 1950 | 307 | #464 | 0.18 |
| 1949 | 297 | #465 | 0.17 |
| 1948 | 288 | #471 | 0.17 |
| 1947 | 230 | #563 | 0.13 |
| 1946 | 171 | #608 | 0.11 |
| 1945 | 140 | #614 | 0.11 |
| 1944 | 131 | #646 | 0.10 |
| 1943 | 154 | #609 | 0.11 |
| 1942 | 141 | #634 | 0.10 |
| 1941 | 66 | #906 | 0.05 |
| 1940 | 43 | #1,109 | 0.04 |
| 1939 | 34 | #1,279 | 0.03 |
| 1938 | 41 | #1,134 | 0.04 |
| 1937 | 40 | #1,136 | 0.04 |
| 1936 | 31 | #1,306 | 0.03 |
| 1935 | 21 | #1,696 | 0.02 |
| 1934 | 16 | #2,034 | 0.02 |
| 1933 | 6 | #3,946 | 0.01 |
| 1932 | 24 | #1,580 | 0.02 |
| 1931 | 10 | #2,870 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 8 | #3,522 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 11 | #2,865 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 6 | #4,534 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 6 | #4,545 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 8 | #3,847 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 7 | #4,196 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 7 | #4,161 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 6 | #4,705 | under 0.01 |
| 1921 | 5 | #5,484 | under 0.01 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Jana a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Jana has been given almost only to girls: 38 boys in 104 years of records.
Girls and boys named Jana: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Jana, and how old are they?
41,500 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 90% of the 46,223 Americans ever recorded as Jana. The median Jana alive today is 52 years old; half are between 39 and 63.
The 2020 Census counted 43,056 people named Jana (42,974 women and girls, 82 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 41,722 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 411 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 11,700 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 14,400 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 8,200 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 3,770 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 3,050 |
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 Jana born?
The states with the most babies named Jana are Texas, California and Illinois, with 29% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Texas | 6,106 | #1,430 | 1.8× |
| California | 4,442 | #1,527 | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 1,866 | #724 | 0.8× |
| Oklahoma | 1,793 | not ranked | 2.9× |
| Ohio | 1,665 | #1,561 | 0.7× |
| New York | 1,512 | #881 | 0.4× |
| Missouri | 1,444 | #988 | 1.3× |
| Indiana | 1,441 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Florida | 1,371 | #932 | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 1,303 | #1,011 | 0.7× |
Where Jana is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Jana is most over-represented in Oklahoma: since 1921 it was given 2.9 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 Jana 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 8 names spelled alike, given to 583,342 babies since 1880, Jana is the third most given (7.9% of them). In 2025 it was given to 181 of their 2,108 babies (8.6%), the second most given that year.
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 Jana
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 Jana and names like it
- Compare Jana and JaneBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sJana peaked in 1961.
- Texas’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Jana since 1910.
- Czech namesWiktionary’s origin for Jana: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1961The year the most babies were named Jana.
- The names of Generation XMost people named Jana alive today were born 1965-1980.
- Names starting with JMost given first.