girl's name
Jane
JAYN
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 1
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 401,565
the United States
#221
2025 births
Jane is a girl's name from the Hebrew for God is gracious, the English feminine of John. Our data marks it reviving, and it ranks 221st in the United States and 222nd in Ireland — a one-place gap across the Atlantic.
- Jane is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1947, when 9,961 babies were given the name.
- After peaking in the 1940s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
- Today about 1 in 2,402 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 1 syllable, with the stress on syllable 1.
Jane over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 2,971 |
| 1890s | 3,882 |
| 1900s | 4,508 |
| 1910s | 27,814 |
| 1920s | 48,230 |
| 1930s | 46,025 |
| 1940s | 72,764 |
| 1950s | 83,095 |
| 1960s | 43,455 |
| 1970s | 9,531 |
| 1980s | 7,503 |
| 1990s | 6,713 |
| 2000s | 7,128 |
| 2010s | 10,278 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 7,112 |
What Jane means
Jane means God is gracious. The Hebrew name behind it joins a form of the divine name to a verb meaning to show favor, so the sense is a gift freely given rather than earned.
Where Jane comes from
Jane is the English feminine of John, from the Old French Jehanne and ultimately the Hebrew Yochanan. It displaced the older Joan through the sixteenth century and became one of the most ordinary English women's names — so ordinary that Jane Doe stands for an unidentified woman in American legal usage, and plain Jane became a phrase. Its literary weight is disproportionate for a name that plain: Jane Austen, Jane Eyre and Jane Seymour, the only one of Henry VIII's wives to be buried beside him. Lady Jane Grey reigned for nine days in 1553 and was executed at seventeen.
Jane in use
Jane peaked in the United States in 1947, when 9,961 babies were registered, and our data marks it reviving. It now ranks 221st in the United States on 1,380 births and 222nd in Ireland on 20 — a single place apart in two very different markets — alongside 323rd in Northern Ireland, 1072nd in France and 1125th in England and Wales, across 401,565 lifetime births. The revival puts it with Joan, the older form it originally displaced, both recovering at once.
How popular is Jane?
In 2025, Jane was given to 1,380 babies in the United States, ranking #221 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Jane 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 Jane
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Jane also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Jane over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Jane
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.
Jane 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.
- Atayal
- Yana
- Belarusian
- Yana
- Bulgarian
- Ivana
- Catalan
- Joan
- Czech
- Ivana
- Finnish
- Jonna
- Italian
- Giovanna
- Middle French
- Jehanne
- Occitan
- Joan
- Russian
- Yana
- Seediq
- Yana
- Serbian
- Ivana
- Ukrainian
- Ivanna
- Other forms
- Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
- Jayne
Sibling names for Jane
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Jane — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Jane
What does the name Jane mean?
God is gracious — it is the English feminine of John.
Is Jane coming back?
Our data marks it reviving. It ranks 221st in the United States and 222nd in Ireland.
Why is Jane Doe used for unidentified women?
Because Jane was among the most ordinary English women's names, the legal convention took it as a placeholder.
Is Jane related to Joan?
Yes — both are English feminines of John, and Jane displaced Joan in the sixteenth century. Both are reviving now.
How popular is the name Jane?
In 2025, Jane was given to 1,380 babies in the United States, ranking #221 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Is Jane a girl's or a boy's name?
Jane is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Jane?
Jane has 1 syllable.
When was Jane most popular?
Jane peaked in 1947, when 9,961 babies were given the name. After peaking in the 1940s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival.
What are the nicknames for Jane?
Jane is usually shortened to Janie and Janey.
Is Jane a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Jane currently ranks #221 in the United States. After peaking in the 1940s it fell out of use, and is now climbing again — a classic revival. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.