Jan

Where Jan comes from

From Old French Jehan (“John”). Doublet of John.
— Wiktionary's entry for Jan
  • Dutch
  • Hebrew
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1369
    Jan Hus born
    Czech theologian, philosopher and preacher
  2. 1390
    Jan van Eyck born
    Flemish painter
  3. 1911
    First appearance
    #1,792 among girls, 8 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  4. 1954
    Peak, #131
    2,993 babies named Jan — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1964
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #249.
  6. 1984
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from Dutch.
  • A male given name from Hebrew.
  • A female given name.
  • A male given name, equivalent to English John.
Namesakes
  • Jan Hus · Czech theologian, philosopher and preacher, 1369–1415
  • Jan van Eyck · Flemish painter, 1390–1441
  • Jan Peter Balkenende · Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 2002 to 2010, born 1956
  • Jan Tinbergen · Dutch economist, 1903–1994
  • Jan Neruda · Czech poet, theater reviewer, publicist, journalist and writer, 1834–1891

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.