Jannie
A feminine Dutch diminutive form of the French name Jeanne.
Name Census estimates that about 4,928 living Americans carry the first name Jannie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jannie today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jannie births was 1924 (281 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jannie. 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 Jannie is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Jannies were born before 1970.
People living today
4.9K
~ 1 in 69,552 Americans
Peak year
1924
281 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
1938 SSA rank
#3,342
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Jannie
Out of the 14,847 babies given the name Jannie since 1880, 99.8% 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.
Jannie as a male name
- Ranked #3,342 in 1938
- 6 male births in 1938
- Peak: 1928 (7 births)
Jannie as a female name
- Ranked #11,546 in 2021
- 8 female births in 2021
- Peak: 1924 (281 births)
Popularity
Jannie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jannie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 2,540 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jannie 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 Jannie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jannies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama recorded the most babies named Jannie, while West Virginia, Maryland, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 461 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jannie
The name Jannie originates from the Dutch language and is a diminutive form of the name Johanna, which is the feminine version of the Hebrew name Yochanan, meaning "God is gracious." The name Jannie was particularly popular in the Netherlands during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Jannie is also a variation of the name Jane, which is derived from the French version of Johanna, Jeanne. The name Jane has been used in English-speaking countries since the Middle Ages and was particularly popular during the Renaissance period.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Jannie can be found in Dutch historical records from the 17th century. In 1632, Jannie van Duijnen was born in Amsterdam, and she went on to become a prominent figure in the Dutch Golden Age as a successful businesswoman and art collector.
Another notable figure with the name Jannie was Jannie Hendriksz, a Dutch Golden Age painter who lived from 1636 to 1695. She was known for her still-life paintings and was one of the few female artists to achieve recognition during that time.
In the 19th century, Jannie Hofmeyr, a South African educator and author, was born in 1867. She played a significant role in the establishment of Afrikaans as a written language and published several works in Afrikaans.
During the 20th century, Jannie Ferreira, a South African rugby union player, gained recognition for his achievements on the field. He was born in 1958 and played for the Springboks, the national rugby team of South Africa, earning 37 caps between 1980 and 1992.
Another notable figure with the name Jannie is Jannie du Plessis, a South African professional rugby union player who was born in 1982. He has represented the Springboks and played for several clubs, including the Sharks and the Lions.
People
Jannie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jannie 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
Jannie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jannie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,928 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jannie 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 69,552 US residents.
Is Jannie a common name?
We classify Jannie as "Rare". It ranks above 96.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14,847 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jannie most popular?
The single biggest year for Jannie was 1924, when 281 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jannie is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Jannie a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Jannie 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.
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.