Jane

Where Jane comes from

Variant of Jeanne, from French Jeanne, from Middle French Jehanne, from Medieval Latin Johanna, variant of Latin Ioanna under influence from Latin Iōhannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets. As a placeholder name, cf. similar use of John and Jack and earlier use of Joan in the same role. Doublet of Gianna, Ivana, Jana, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.
— Wiktionary's entry for Jane
  • French
  • 1 syllable
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1775
    Jane Austen born
    author, novelist, writer
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #98 among girls — 215 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1937
    Jane Fonda born
    American actress and activist
  4. 1946
    Peak, #35
    8,971 babies named Jane — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1965
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #95.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from French, the standard feminine form of John since the 17th century.
Namesakes
  • Jane Austen · author, novelist, writer, 1775–1817
  • Jane Fonda · American actress and activist, born 1937
  • Jane Goodall · English primatologist and anthropologist, 1934–2025
  • Jane Addams · American feminist social activist, reformer, social worker, sociologist, philosopher, and writer, 1860–1935
  • Jane Wyman · American actress, 1917–2007

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.