girl's name
Johanna
yo-HAH-nuh
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Top 1000 (US)
- Births on record 86,198
the United States
#871
2025 births
Johanna means God is gracious, and it heads one of the largest name families in Europe — Jane, Joan, Jean, Janet, Sinead and Siobhan are all the same name arriving by different national routes.
- Johanna is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in 1984, when 929 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 10,729 babies in the United States is given this name.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Johanna 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 | 864 |
| 1890s | 1,373 |
| 1900s | 1,124 |
| 1910s | 2,542 |
| 1920s | 2,634 |
| 1930s | 2,526 |
| 1940s | 2,789 |
| 1950s | 2,634 |
| 1960s | 3,525 |
| 1970s | 5,197 |
| 1980s | 8,240 |
| 1990s | 6,071 |
| 2000s | 6,801 |
| 2010s | 5,836 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 2,220 |
What Johanna means
Johanna means God is gracious. The Hebrew joins a form of the divine name to a verb meaning to show favor, so it states something about God rather than the child.
Where Johanna comes from
Johanna is the Latin feminine of Johannes, from the Hebrew Yochanan — Yah, the divine name, joined to chanan, to be gracious. The family it heads is enormous because John was the most common male name in Christian Europe for centuries and every language built a feminine: Jane, Joan and Jean in English and Scots, Jeanne in French, Giovanna in Italian, Juana in Spanish, Siobhan in Irish and Sinead from the Norman Jeanette. Most speakers do not recognize them as one name.
Johanna in use
Johanna peaked in France in 1993, when 1,455 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It now ranks 660th in France on 65 births, 871st in the United States on 305, 882nd in Ireland on 4 and 1808th in England and Wales on 15, across 86,198 lifetime births in five of the seven markets we track.
How popular is Johanna?
In 2025, Johanna was given to 309 babies in the United States, ranking #871 that year. It is a well-established, commonly used name.
Where Johanna 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 Johanna
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Johanna also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Johanna over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Johanna
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.
Johanna 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 Johanna
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Johanna — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Johanna
What does the name Johanna mean?
God is gracious — the Hebrew Yochanan in its Latin feminine form.
Which names are related?
Jane, Joan, Jean, Janet, Jeanne, Giovanna, Juana, Siobhan and Sinead are all the same name.
Is Johanna the same as Joanna?
Effectively yes — Johanna is the Latin and Germanic spelling, Joanna the Greek-derived English one.
How popular is Johanna?
660th in France, its strongest market, and 871st in the United States.
Is Johanna a girl's or a boy's name?
Johanna is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Johanna?
Johanna has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Johanna?
Johanna is usually shortened to Hanna and Jo.
Is Johanna a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Johanna currently ranks #660 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.