Joan

What Joan means

Means “God is gracious”

A clipped or hypochoristic form of Joanna, from Latin Joanna, 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 doubl

Source: Wiktionary, “Joan” (revision 93671796), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Joan?

US: Rising: up from #1124 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2025, when 232 boys got the name (#984 that year). First in the US records in 1903.

How common

• About 1 in 7,362 baby boys in the US 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 TX (0.32 per 1,000 boys), AZ (0.28 per 1,000 boys), MD (0.26 per 1,000 boys) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Joan is #984 in the US. It is not in the England & Wales list for 2025.

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

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 51.1% of US babies named Joan were boys.

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

• John8,027 US · 296 E&W
• Jon246 US · 14 E&W
• Jan47 US · 57 E&W
• Jin56 US
• Jun39 US · 5 E&W
• Joon19 US
• Jaan5 US · 3 E&W

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

• Jo
• Ione
• Jone
• Ioane
• Joane

Listed as alternative forms on Wiktionary.

If you like Joan

Boys

• Angelo#304Editor’s note Down from #299 in 2015 to #304 in 2025 in the US
• Simon#230“sixpence coin”^*
• Zion#142Editor’s note Up from #227 in 2015 to #142 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 680 US boys in the 2025 records
• Malachi#134“my messenger”^*
• Johan#572Variant of Joan, meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Moses#515Editor’s note Down from #468 in 2015 to #515 in 2025 in the US

For a sister

• Amaya#180“the end”^*
• Maya#62Editor’s note Steady in the US: #68 in 2015 and #62 in 2025. About 1 in 430 US girls in the 2025 records
• Madelyn#70Editor’s note Down from #59 in 2015 to #70 in 2025 in the US
• Azaria#638Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1988, with 6 babies
• Sophie#55French form of Sophia, meaning “wisdom”^*
• Isabela#664Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1982, with 6 babies

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