Girls' name · peaked in 1942
Janet name popularity since 1925
533,964 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Janet. Half of them were born in 1952 or earlier, so the typical Janet is about 74 years old in 2026. Janet peaked in 1942 as the #19 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 533,964
- Named Janet, 1925–2025
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,791 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.7% girls
- 532,465 girls · 1,499 boys
- Most popular in
- Iowa
- 1.66× its national share
Peak year is the year Janet 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.
Janet births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1954. Measured as a share of all babies, Janet peaked in 1942.
- Fastest rise: Between 1928 and 1933, Janet became 3× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 2009 and 2014, its share of baby girls fell by 51%, from 1 in 5,200 to 1 in 10,600.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Janet's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Janet.
Decade by decade
Babies named Janet 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 | 13,275 | 42 | – |
| 1930s | 76,038 | 280 | #22 |
| 1940s | 130,755 | 338 | #20 |
| 1950s | 167,520 | 309 | #20 |
| 1960s | 89,315 | 234 | #55 |
| 1970s | 24,454 | 98 | #139 |
| 1980s | 13,520 | 151 | #207 |
| 1990s | 9,660 | 47 | #298 |
| 2000s | 5,501 | 0 | #562 |
| 2010s | 1,906 | 0 | #1,481 |
| 2020–25 | 521 | 0 | #2,791 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
53.7% of babies named Janet from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Janet is most popular
The index compares Janet'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 Janet.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Iowa | 1.66× | 11,332 |
| West Virginia | 1.65× | 7,792 |
| Nebraska | 1.52× | 5,720 |
| South Dakota | 1.52× | 2,598 |
| Pennsylvania | 1.46× | 39,686 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Janet 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Janet (this page) | 532,465 | 1942 |
| Janett | 3,375 | 1944 |
| Jannet | 2,312 | 1990 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Janet's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Janet.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Janet (1942).
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