Janice
Janice was given to 70 girls in 2025, #2,522 among girls’ names; 407,605 Americans have been recorded with it since 1894 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 267,000 Americans named Janice and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (66% of everyone recorded); the median is 72 years old and half are between 65 and 78.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Janice by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Janice mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Janice is “a female given name.” Its etymology gives the sense “God is gracious” (literally).
Variant of Jane under apparent influence from Alice, Bernice, Eunice, etc., from French Jeanne, from Middle French Jehanne, from Medieval Latin Johanna, variant of Latin Ioanna under influence from Latin Iōhannēs, 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, Jana, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.
/ˈd͡ʒænɪs/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Janice?
#2,522 among girls’ names, 2025
Janice fell from #1,238 in 2015 to #2,522 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 0.11 to 0.04 per 1,000.
15,981 babies in 1951, the peak
Janice peaked in 1951, when 15,981 babies were given it (15,958 girls, #21 among girls’ names). The 70 births of 2025 are under 1% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 70 | #2,522 | 0.04 |
| 2024 | 83 | #2,254 | 0.05 |
| 2023 | 98 | #2,010 | 0.06 |
| 2022 | 90 | #2,129 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 87 | #2,161 | 0.05 |
| 2020 | 97 | #1,962 | 0.06 |
| 2019 | 141 | #1,532 | 0.08 |
| 2018 | 154 | #1,436 | 0.09 |
| 2017 | 148 | #1,501 | 0.09 |
| 2016 | 165 | #1,407 | 0.09 |
Every recorded year (128)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 198 | #1,238 | 0.11 |
| 2014 | 178 | #1,330 | 0.10 |
| 2013 | 188 | #1,264 | 0.11 |
| 2012 | 192 | #1,260 | 0.11 |
| 2011 | 192 | #1,246 | 0.11 |
| 2010 | 236 | #1,052 | 0.13 |
| 2009 | 331 | #844 | 0.18 |
| 2008 | 254 | #1,032 | 0.13 |
| 2007 | 286 | #948 | 0.15 |
| 2006 | 260 | #996 | 0.14 |
| 2005 | 238 | #1,022 | 0.13 |
| 2004 | 285 | #862 | 0.16 |
| 2003 | 245 | #955 | 0.13 |
| 2002 | 325 | #747 | 0.18 |
| 2001 | 273 | #839 | 0.15 |
| 2000 | 310 | #744 | 0.17 |
| 1999 | 298 | #752 | 0.17 |
| 1998 | 311 | #713 | 0.18 |
| 1997 | 311 | #692 | 0.18 |
| 1996 | 338 | #658 | 0.19 |
| 1995 | 362 | #613 | 0.21 |
| 1994 | 420 | #562 | 0.24 |
| 1993 | 450 | #533 | 0.25 |
| 1992 | 462 | #514 | 0.25 |
| 1991 | 485 | #492 | 0.26 |
| 1990 | 514 | #476 | 0.27 |
| 1989 | 546 | #446 | 0.30 |
| 1988 | 631 | #380 | 0.35 |
| 1987 | 669 | #356 | 0.38 |
| 1986 | 657 | #361 | 0.38 |
| 1985 | 688 | #342 | 0.40 |
| 1984 | 758 | #313 | 0.45 |
| 1983 | 772 | #301 | 0.46 |
| 1982 | 880 | #276 | 0.52 |
| 1981 | 890 | #277 | 0.53 |
| 1980 | 1,004 | #257 | 0.60 |
| 1979 | 1,078 | #240 | 0.67 |
| 1978 | 1,162 | #216 | 0.76 |
| 1977 | 1,143 | #215 | 0.75 |
| 1976 | 1,155 | #213 | 0.79 |
| 1975 | 1,310 | #191 | 0.90 |
| 1974 | 1,323 | #193 | 0.90 |
| 1973 | 1,474 | #183 | 1.0 |
| 1972 | 1,713 | #171 | 1.1 |
| 1971 | 2,144 | #151 | 1.3 |
| 1970 | 2,331 | #145 | 1.3 |
| 1969 | 2,631 | #131 | 1.6 |
| 1968 | 3,043 | #110 | 1.9 |
| 1967 | 3,514 | #99 | 2.1 |
| 1966 | 4,345 | #80 | 2.6 |
| 1965 | 5,029 | #73 | 2.8 |
| 1964 | 6,161 | #69 | 3.3 |
| 1963 | 7,074 | #63 | 3.7 |
| 1962 | 7,822 | #58 | 4.0 |
| 1961 | 8,727 | #52 | 4.3 |
| 1960 | 9,620 | #41 | 4.8 |
| 1959 | 10,489 | #37 | 5.2 |
| 1958 | 10,888 | #35 | 5.4 |
| 1957 | 11,968 | #32 | 5.9 |
| 1956 | 13,017 | #26 | 6.5 |
| 1955 | 13,178 | #25 | 6.7 |
| 1954 | 13,505 | #25 | 7.0 |
| 1953 | 14,627 | #22 | 7.8 |
| 1952 | 14,978 | #23 | 8.1 |
| 1951 | 15,958 | #21 | 8.9 |
| 1950 | 15,012 | #22 | 8.8 |
| 1949 | 14,453 | #24 | 8.4 |
| 1948 | 14,162 | #23 | 8.3 |
| 1947 | 15,409 | #22 | 8.7 |
| 1946 | 14,039 | #22 | 8.9 |
| 1945 | 10,781 | #24 | 8.2 |
| 1944 | 9,733 | #28 | 7.3 |
| 1943 | 10,651 | #26 | 7.6 |
| 1942 | 10,286 | #25 | 7.6 |
| 1941 | 10,061 | #22 | 8.3 |
| 1940 | 9,318 | #22 | 8.1 |
| 1939 | 8,778 | #24 | 8.0 |
| 1938 | 8,711 | #24 | 7.9 |
| 1937 | 7,768 | #25 | 7.3 |
| 1936 | 6,150 | #31 | 5.9 |
| 1935 | 4,442 | #47 | 4.2 |
| 1934 | 3,588 | #68 | 3.4 |
| 1933 | 3,061 | #81 | 3.0 |
| 1932 | 2,628 | #94 | 2.5 |
| 1931 | 2,287 | #104 | 2.1 |
| 1930 | 1,930 | #126 | 1.7 |
| 1929 | 1,690 | #136 | 1.5 |
| 1928 | 1,565 | #149 | 1.4 |
| 1927 | 1,468 | #159 | 1.2 |
| 1926 | 1,467 | #159 | 1.2 |
| 1925 | 1,510 | #157 | 1.2 |
| 1924 | 1,175 | #187 | 0.94 |
| 1923 | 787 | #233 | 0.65 |
| 1922 | 745 | #239 | 0.62 |
| 1921 | 732 | #246 | 0.59 |
| 1920 | 670 | #254 | 0.56 |
| 1919 | 589 | #264 | 0.52 |
| 1918 | 510 | #280 | 0.44 |
| 1917 | 455 | #289 | 0.42 |
| 1916 | 372 | #314 | 0.36 |
| 1915 | 285 | #353 | 0.29 |
| 1914 | 225 | #354 | 0.30 |
| 1913 | 157 | #386 | 0.25 |
| 1912 | 142 | #388 | 0.25 |
| 1911 | 117 | #375 | 0.28 |
| 1910 | 89 | #418 | 0.22 |
| 1909 | 78 | #415 | 0.22 |
| 1908 | 59 | #471 | 0.18 |
| 1907 | 40 | #581 | 0.13 |
| 1906 | 51 | #481 | 0.17 |
| 1905 | 42 | #534 | 0.14 |
| 1904 | 36 | #566 | 0.13 |
| 1903 | 35 | #552 | 0.13 |
| 1902 | 43 | #483 | 0.16 |
| 1901 | 34 | #525 | 0.14 |
| 1900 | 37 | #572 | 0.12 |
| 1899 | 13 | #920 | 0.06 |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,584 | 0.02 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Janice a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Janice has been given almost only to girls: 1,157 boys in 128 years of records.
Girls and boys named Janice: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Janice, and how old are they?
267,000 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 66% of the 407,605 Americans ever recorded as Janice. The median Janice alive today is 72 years old; half are between 65 and 78.
The 2020 Census counted 302,296 people named Janice (302,069 women and girls, 227 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 305,243 born in the U.S. The Census count is 1% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 44,100 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 176,000 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 31,600 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 9,270 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 4,300 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,690 |
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 Janice born?
The states with the most babies named Janice are California, New York and Illinois, with 19% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 27,094 | #2,178 | 0.9× |
| New York | 25,070 | #1,730 | 0.7× |
| Illinois | 23,257 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 21,696 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Ohio | 19,723 | #1,339 | 0.9× |
| Michigan | 19,686 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Texas | 18,928 | #2,501 | 0.8× |
| Massachusetts | 13,322 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| North Carolina | 13,164 | not ranked | 1.0× |
| Georgia | 12,809 | not ranked | 1.1× |
Where Janice is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Janice is most over-represented in North Dakota: since 1910 it was given 1.3 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 Janice 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 540,691 babies since 1880, Janice is the most given (75% of them). In 2025 it was given to 70 of their 148 babies (47%), 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 Janice
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 Janice and names like it
- Compare Janice and JanBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1950sJanice peaked in 1951.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Janice since 1910.
- The top names of 1951The year the most babies were named Janice.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Janice alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with JMost given first.