Jann
Of Arabic origin meaning "paradise" or "supernatural being".
Name Census estimates that about 1,608 living Americans carry the first name Jann. It is a predominantly female name (93.7% of registrations). The average person named Jann today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jann births was 1956 (141 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jann. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Jann is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Janns were born before 1971.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 213,156 Americans
Peak year
1956
141 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,099
Tracked since 1932
Census
Jann in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,566 people with the first name Jann, which placed it at #6,284 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
#6,284
National first-name rank
People counted
2.6K
2,566 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
81.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jann
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jann is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.8%). 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 Jann 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 Jann at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White81.4% · 2,089
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 160
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.8% · 150
- Black or African American4.3% · 110
- Two or more races1.9% · 50
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Jann
Jann leans heavily female at 93.7% of total registrations, but 143 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Jann as a male name
- Ranked #13,044 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (13 births)
Jann as a female name
- Ranked #12,099 in 1991
- 6 female births in 1991
- Peak: 1956 (136 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jann leans strongly female. 2,241 people counted with this name were female (87.6%), compared with 318 male bearers (12.4%).
Popularity
Jann: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jann from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 1,113 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
Jann 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 Jann during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Janns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 21 states and territories. California, Michigan, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Jann, while Virginia, Missouri, Louisiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 37 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jann
The name Jann has its origins in the ancient Germanic languages, with roots dating back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Old High German word "jan," which means "God is gracious." This name was commonly used in medieval Europe and was particularly popular among Germanic tribes such as the Franks and the Saxons.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jann can be found in the Frankish Annals, which chronicle the reign of Charlemagne in the 8th and 9th centuries. The Annals mention a nobleman named Jann who served as a trusted advisor to the emperor.
The name Jann also appears in several religious texts and manuscripts from the Middle Ages. For example, a monk named Jann is mentioned in the Annals of Fulda, a historical chronicle written in the 9th century by the monks of Fulda Abbey in present-day Germany.
During the Renaissance period, the name Jann gained popularity among scholars and artists. One notable figure was Jann Gutenberg, a German goldsmith and inventor who is credited with introducing the printing press to Europe in the 15th century.
In the 17th century, a French philosopher and mathematician named Jann de la Bruyère made significant contributions to the field of moral philosophy. His famous work, "Les Caractères," published in 1688, is a collection of witty and insightful observations on human nature.
Another prominent figure with the name Jann was Jann Sibelius, a Finnish composer who lived from 1865 to 1957. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and his works, such as the Finlandia tone poem and the Violin Concerto, are considered masterpieces of the Romantic era.
In the 20th century, Jann Werich was a renowned Czech actor, playwright, and writer who became a cultural icon in his country. He was known for his satirical plays and performances that often criticized the communist regime in Czechoslovakia.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Jann. While the name has retained its Germanic roots, it has been adopted and adapted by various cultures and languages over the centuries, reflecting its enduring appeal and historical significance.
People
Jann + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jann 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
Jann: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jann?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,608 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jann 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 213,156 US residents.
Is Jann a common name?
We classify Jann as "Rare". It ranks above 92.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,281 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jann most popular?
The single biggest year for Jann was 1956, when 141 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jann is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jann in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,566 people with the name Jann, or 0.85 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,284 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 Jann 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 Jann?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jann leans strongly female. 2,241 people counted with this name were female (87.6%), compared with 318 male bearers (12.4%). 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 Jann?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jann is White at 81.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.8%). 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 Jann most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Jann in the 2020 Census, accounting for 81.4% (2,089 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 Jann in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jann a female name?
Yes, 93.7% of people registered as Jann 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 Jann still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jann 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 Jann 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 common is the name Jann?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Jann at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.