Mostly girls · peaked in 1956
Jan name popularity since 1925
76,421 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Jan (71.1% girls, 28.9% boys). Half of them were born in 1956 or earlier, so the typical Jan is about 70 years old in 2026. Jan peaked in 1956 as the #136 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 76,421
- Named Jan, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #15,898 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 71.1% girls
- 54,305 girls · 22,116 boys
- Most popular in
- Hawaii
- 2.35× its national share
Peak year is the year Jan made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Jan births per year, 1925–2025
1956 was the biggest year for Jan both by count and as a share of all babies.
- Fastest rise: Between 1940 and 1945, Jan became 2.3× more common, from 1 in 3,450 baby girls to 1 in 1,510.
- Steepest fall: Between 1960 and 1965, its share of baby girls fell by 56%, from 1 in 826 to 1 in 1,880.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Jan's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Jan.
Decade by decade
Babies named Jan in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 207 | 124 | – |
| 1930s | 1,787 | 1,695 | #465 |
| 1940s | 8,717 | 5,344 | #221 |
| 1950s | 26,169 | 5,723 | #138 |
| 1960s | 12,827 | 2,397 | #285 |
| 1970s | 3,095 | 1,278 | #606 |
| 1980s | 1,126 | 1,193 | #1,415 |
| 1990s | 230 | 995 | #3,924 |
| 2000s | 87 | 2,056 | #10,436 |
| 2010s | 45 | 930 | #12,303 |
| 2020–25 | 15 | 381 | #15,898 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
65.6% of babies named Jan from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Jan is most popular
The index compares Jan's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Jan.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Hawaii | 2.35× | 515 |
| Utah | 1.80× | 1,072 |
| Iowa | 1.77× | 1,574 |
| Kansas | 1.74× | 1,243 |
| Oregon | 1.65× | 1,087 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Jan and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Jan (this page) | 54,305 | 1956 |
| Jann | 2,138 | 1953 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Jan's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Jan.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Jan (1956).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data