Janet
A feminine name derived from the French form of Jane, of uncertain origin.
Name Census estimates that about 316,008 living Americans carry the first name Janet. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Janet today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Janet births was 1954 (18,507 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Janet. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Janet with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Janet is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,515 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Janet is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Janets were born before 1969.
- • Compared to the 1950s, recent registration numbers for Janet have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
316K
~ 1 in 1,085 Americans
Peak year
1954
18,507 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1995 SSA rank
#2,441
Tracked since 1880
Census
Janet in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 429,157 people with the first name Janet, which placed it at #108 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#108
National first-name rank
People counted
429K
429,157 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
142.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Janet
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janet is White at 82.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Black (5.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Janet described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Janet at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.8% · 355,505
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 31,634
- Black or African American5.5% · 23,631
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 9,637
- Two or more races1.6% · 6,991
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1,759
Gender
Gender distribution for Janet
Out of the 558,224 babies given the name Janet since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Janet as a male name
- Ranked #8,241 in 1995
- 6 male births in 1995
- Peak: 1943 (46 births)
Janet as a female name
- Ranked #2,441 in 2024
- 74 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1954 (18,477 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Janet appears almost entirely female. Of the 429,159 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Janet: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Janet from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 167,828 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Janet by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Janet during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Janets live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. New York, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Janet, while Alaska, Nevada, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10,813 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Janet
The name Janet originated from the French variation Jeanette, which is the feminine form of the male name Jean, derived from the Hebrew name Yohanan meaning "Graced by God" or "Yahweh is gracious". The name gained popularity during the Middle Ages in France and eventually spread across Europe.
Janet is thought to have its roots in ancient Hebrew and Biblical texts, with the name Yohanan appearing in various forms throughout the Old Testament. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name in its modern form can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript compiled in 1086 by order of William the Conqueror, which mentions a landowner named Janneta.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Janet. One of the earliest was Janet Beaufort (1399-1472), a Scottish princess who played a significant role in the Wars of the Roses. Another influential figure was Janet Erskine (1508-1572), a Scottish noblewoman and religious reformer who was a confidante of Mary, Queen of Scots.
In the realm of literature, Janet Lewis (1899-1998) was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer who received numerous accolades, including the Frost Medal from the Poetry Society of America. The name also has a place in the world of science, with Janet Taylor Lisle (1936-2001) being a prominent American virologist known for her contributions to the study of viruses and their role in cancer.
In the 20th century, Janet Flanner (1892-1978) was an American writer and journalist best known for her work as the Paris correspondent for The New Yorker magazine under the pen name "Genêt". Her vivid descriptions of Parisian life and culture during the interwar period and World War II are considered literary masterpieces.
While these are just a few examples, the name Janet has been carried by countless individuals throughout history, each leaving their unique mark on the world in various fields and disciplines.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Janet
People
Janet + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Janet as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Janet: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Janet?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 316,008 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Janet going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,085 US residents.
Is Janet a common name?
We classify Janet as "Common". It ranks above 99.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 558,224 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Janet most popular?
The single biggest year for Janet was 1954, when 18,507 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Janet is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Janet in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 429,157 people with the name Janet, or 142.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #108 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Janet in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Janet?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Janet appears almost entirely female. Of the 429,159 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Janet?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Janet is White at 82.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.4%) and Black (5.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Janet most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Janet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.8% (355,505 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Janet in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Janet a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Janet in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Janet still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Janet in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Janet can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Janet?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.