Jane

What Jane means

Means “God is gracious”

Variant of Jeanne, 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

Source: Wiktionary, “Jane” (revision 94540460), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Jane?

US: Rising: up from #290 in 2015. England & Wales: Steady: #1204 in 2015, #1110 now.

Biggest US share so far: 1945, when 7,639 girls got the name (#36 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,165 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 8,443 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 4,473 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in WY (7.4 per 1,000 girls), UT (5.62 per 1,000 girls), DC (3.96 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Jane is #221 in the US and #1110 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Jane were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• June1,978 US · 53 E&W
• Joan222 US · 14 E&W
• Joanne66 US · 17 E&W
• Jayne60 US
• Joann54 US
• Jun7 US
• Jin0 US · 5 E&W
• Jan5 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

Spelling variants on Wiktionary

• Jayne
• Jaine

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

Nicknames

• Jan
• Janeka
• Janelle
• Janet
• Janette
• Janice
• Janine
• Janis
• Jean
• Jeanette
• Jeanne
• Jeannette

Listed on Wiktionary under “variants and pet forms”.

If you like Jane

Girls

• Rosalie#171“rose”^*
• Margot#102Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #592 in 2015, #102 in 2025
• Colette#316Editor’s note Up from #525 in 2015 to #316 in 2025 in the US
• Noelle#202Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #202 vs #705 in 2025
• Charlotte#2Form of Charles, meaning “free man”^*
• Louise#514Feminine form of Louis, meaning “loud; famous + battle”^*

For a brother

• Augustine#545Same root as Austin, meaning “majestic”^*
• Bo#449Swedish, from Old Norse Búi, meaning “dweller, long-time resident”^*
• Noel#478French, meaning “birthday of the Lord”^*
• Marcel#730Editor’s note Up from #771 in 2015 to #730 in 2025 in the US
• Lewis#433Same root as Louis, meaning “loud; famous + battle”^*
• Julien#709Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #709 vs #3,256 in 2025

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under French, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Jane’s. Rank is US 2025.