Joan — #1237 US girls' name
481,016 babies named Joan in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1932. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 93% of names given to girls today.
36% of everyone ever named Joan was born in this single decade.
21,044 babies were named Joan in 1932 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Joan
The Social Security Administration has registered 481,016 babies named Joan between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Joan currently holds the #1237 rank among girls for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1932, when 21,044 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Joan performed strongest in the 1930s, accumulating 173,439 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Joan shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in New York, which accounts for 81,539 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by Pennsylvania and Illinois. In total, SSA state-level files list Joan in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Joan in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 481,016 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Joan at a glance
Outside the top 1,000Peak year
Current rank
Active since
Joan popularity over time — girls
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (1932)
- 21,044
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #1237 among girls.
481,016 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1932 with 21,044 births in a single year.
Joan popularity over time — boys
7,469 total births recorded since 1903 (Joan as boys' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The boys' variant of Joan accounts for 2% of total recorded use across both genders.
Joan by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1930s
- 173,439 births that decade — 36% of Joan's all-time total
Joan decade highlights
- Peak decade 173,439 births
- Runner-up 117,708 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1930s was Joan's strongest decade
173,439 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 36% of all-time use.
Joan by state
Where Joan concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York | | 81,539 | 17.0% |
| #2 | Pennsylvania | | 47,972 | 10.0% |
| #3 | Illinois | | 31,015 | 6.4% |
| #4 | New Jersey | | 27,580 | 5.7% |
| #5 | Massachusetts | | 25,293 | 5.3% |
| #6 | California | | 24,138 | 5.0% |
| #7 | Ohio | | 23,830 | 5.0% |
| #8 | Michigan | | 21,990 | 4.6% |
81,539 of 481,016 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- New York 17.0% of nationwide
- Pennsylvania 10.0% of nationwide
- Illinois 6.4% of nationwide
- New Jersey 5.7% of nationwide
- Massachusetts 5.3% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
New York accounts for 17.0% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Joan appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Keep exploring Joan
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.