Girls' name · peaked in 1934
Joann name popularity since 1925
155,594 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Joann. Half of them were born in 1949 or earlier, so the typical Joann is about 77 years old in 2026. Joann peaked in 1934 as the #50 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 155,594
- Named Joann, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1934
- #50 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #3,049 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.6% girls
- 155,030 girls · 564 boys
- Most popular in
- North Dakota
- 2.41× its national share
Peak year is the year Joann 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.
Joann births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year by count was 1942. Measured as a share of all babies, Joann peaked in 1934.
- Fastest rise: Between 1925 and 1930, Joann became 4.9× more common.
- Steepest fall: Between 1973 and 1978, its share of baby girls fell by 46%, from 1 in 1,400 to 1 in 2,610.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Joann's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Joann.
Decade by decade
Babies named Joann 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 | 4,427 | 11 | – |
| 1930s | 34,698 | 134 | #53 |
| 1940s | 40,015 | 127 | #80 |
| 1950s | 32,677 | 61 | #136 |
| 1960s | 24,875 | 94 | #158 |
| 1970s | 9,824 | 37 | #258 |
| 1980s | 4,277 | 19 | #509 |
| 1990s | 2,057 | 14 | #1,008 |
| 2000s | 1,112 | 45 | #1,936 |
| 2010s | 711 | 12 | #2,179 |
| 2020–25 | 357 | 10 | #3,049 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
40.9% of babies named Joann from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Baby Boom years (1946–1964). The full split by generation:
Where Joann is most popular
The index compares Joann'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 Joann.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| North Dakota | 2.41× | 1,170 |
| South Dakota | 2.24× | 1,098 |
| Hawaii | 1.92× | 921 |
| Iowa | 1.92× | 3,747 |
| Rhode Island | 1.79× | 977 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Joann 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Joann (this page) | 155,030 | 1934 |
| Joan | 462,192 | 1932 |
| Joanne | 209,530 | 1935 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 499 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Joann's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Joann.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Joann (1934).
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