girl's name
Gianna
jee-AH-nuh
- Origin Italian
- Gender Girl
- Letters 6
- Popularity Top 100 (US)
- Births on record 114,584
the United States
#33
2025 births
Gianna is a girl's name of Italian origin meaning "God is gracious." It is the feminine form of Gianni, itself a short form of Giovanni, the Italian version of John, so it carries the same Hebrew meaning as its English counterpart Joanna.
- Gianna is a name of Italian origin.
- Peaked in 2020, when 7,910 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 588 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1951.
Gianna over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1950s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1950s | 54 |
| 1960s | 333 |
| 1970s | 420 |
| 1980s | 907 |
| 1990s | 6,368 |
| 2000s | 27,880 |
| 2010s | 34,686 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 39,740 |
What Gianna means
Gianna means "God is gracious," inherited from the Hebrew Yochanan through the Italian Giovanni. It belongs to the same family as Jane, Joanna, Jeanne, and Juana, all feminine forms of John in different languages.
Where Gianna comes from
Gianna is the Italian feminine of Gianni, a shortened Giovanni, which descends from the Latin Iohannes and ultimately the Hebrew Yochanan, meaning Yahweh is gracious. Italian produced a full set of forms from this root — Giovanna as the formal feminine, Gianna as the shorter and more familiar version — mirroring how English generated Joanna and Jane from the same source. The name has strong devotional associations in Italy, reinforced in the twentieth century by Gianna Beretta Molla, a physician canonized in 2004. Gianna has spread widely in English-speaking countries alongside other Italian names.
How popular is Gianna?
In 2025, Gianna was given to 5,634 babies in the United States, ranking #33 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Where Gianna is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Gianna
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Gianna also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Gianna over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Gianna
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Gianna in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
- Italian
- Giovanna
Sibling names for Gianna
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Gianna — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Gianna
What does the name Gianna mean?
Gianna means "God is gracious," from the Hebrew Yochanan through the Italian Giovanni.
Is Gianna the Italian form of Joanna?
Effectively yes — both are feminine forms of John, one Italian and one English.
What are nicknames for Gianna?
Gia is the most common short form.
How popular is the name Gianna?
In 2025, Gianna was given to 5,634 babies in the United States, ranking #33 that year. It is one of the most popular names in the United States.
Is Gianna a girl's or a boy's name?
Gianna is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
When was Gianna most popular?
Gianna peaked in 2020, when 7,910 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Gianna a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Gianna currently ranks #33 in the United States. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.