Jean

Where Jean comes from

Variant of Jeanne, from French Jeanne, from Old French Jehane, 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). Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena. The unincorporated community in Nevada, originally named Goodsprings Junction, was renamed Jean on 28 June 1905 by postmaster George Arthur Fayle in honor of his wife.
— Wiktionary's entry for Jean
  • French
  • 1 syllable
Along the way
  1. 1621
    Jean de La Fontaine born
    French poet, fabulist and writer
  2. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #201 among girls — 59 babies in the first year on record.
  3. 1889
    Jean Cocteau born
    French writer and film director
  4. 1928
    Peak, #12
    12,209 babies named Jean — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1960
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #86.
  6. 1990
    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 female given name from French.
  • A male given name from French.
Namesakes
  • Jean de La Fontaine · French poet, fabulist and writer, 1621–1695
  • Jean Cocteau · French writer and film director, 1889–1963
  • Jean Racine · French dramatist, 1639–1699
  • Jean Le Rond d'Alembert · French mathematician, mechanician, physicist, philosopher and music theorist, 1717–1783
  • Jean Piaget · Swiss psychologist, biologist, logician, philosopher and academic, 1896–1980

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.