girl's name
Janelle
juh-NEL
- Origin American
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 63,397
the United States
#803
2025 births
Janelle is an American elaboration rather than an inherited name — Jane with a French-looking ending attached, built in the twentieth century by the same habit that produced Danielle, Rochelle and Michelle. The ending is decorative rather than grammatical.
- Janelle is a name of American origin.
- Peaked in 1979, when 1,421 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 9,751 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1912.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Janelle over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1910s 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 |
|---|---|
| 1910s | 84 |
| 1920s | 280 |
| 1930s | 857 |
| 1940s | 1,499 |
| 1950s | 3,528 |
| 1960s | 5,025 |
| 1970s | 8,454 |
| 1980s | 12,637 |
| 1990s | 8,488 |
| 2000s | 6,778 |
| 2010s | 6,906 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,431 |
What Janelle means
Janelle means God is gracious, carried from Jane and ultimately from the Hebrew Yochanan. The -elle ending adds no meaning of its own and was attached for sound.
Where Janelle comes from
Janelle joins Jane to the ending -elle, a French feminine suffix that American naming borrowed as a decorative element rather than as grammar. Jane is the English feminine of John, from the Old French Jehanne and the Hebrew Yochanan, God is gracious or God has shown favor. The same construction gave Danielle, Rochelle, Marchelle and Chanelle, most of which appear in the twentieth century and none of which exist in French as given names in that form.
Janelle in use
Janelle peaked in the United States in 1979, when 1,421 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 644th in England and Wales on 60 births, 803rd in the United States on 340, 1025th in Ireland on 3 and 1061st in France on 35, across 63,397 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track. England and Wales set its own peak in the most recent year we hold.
How popular is Janelle?
In 2025, Janelle was given to 340 babies in the United States, ranking #803 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Janelle 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.
How Janelle is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Janëlle | Janëlle is a rare spelling of Janelle, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 5 times, mostly in France. | 5 |
Names that peaked alongside Janelle
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Janelle also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Janelle over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Janelle
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.
Janelle 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.
Sibling names for Janelle
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Janelle — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Janelle
What does the name Janelle mean?
God is gracious — from Jane and the Hebrew Yochanan.
Is Janelle French?
The ending looks French, but the name is an American construction and is not used in French.
What other names use that pattern?
Danielle, Rochelle and Chanelle were built the same way.
How popular is Janelle?
644th in England and Wales, which now ranks it above the United States.
Is Janelle a girl's or a boy's name?
Janelle is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Janelle?
Janelle has 2 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Janelle?
Janelle is usually shortened to Nelle.
Is Janelle a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Janelle currently ranks #545 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.