Johanne
A feminine name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious".
Name Census estimates that about 826 living Americans carry the first name Johanne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Johanne today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Johanne births was 1939 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Johanne. 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.
People living today
826
~ 1 in 414,957 Americans
Peak year
1939
42 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2021 SSA rank
#9,884
Tracked since 1895
Popularity
Johanne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Johanne from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 297 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Johanne 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 Johanne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Johannes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Johanne, while Ohio, Florida, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 44 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Johanne
The given name Johanne is a variant of the name John, which has its origins in the Hebrew name Yohanan, meaning "Graced by God" or "Yahweh is gracious." The name John was later Latinized to Johannes and adopted by various European languages.
The name Johanne is primarily found in Scandinavian countries, particularly in Norway and Sweden, where it is a feminine form of the name John. It has been in use since the Middle Ages and was popularized by the spread of Christianity in the region.
In the Bible, John the Baptist and John the Apostle were two prominent figures who bore the name. This association with biblical figures contributed to the widespread popularity of the name throughout Christian communities.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Johanne can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, which date back to the 13th century. Notably, Johanne Jonsdottir, a 14th-century Icelandic woman, was one of the first recorded individuals to bear this name.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Johanne. Johanne Catharine Ziesenis (1762-1827) was a German writer and translator. Johanne Luise Heiberg (1812-1890) was a Danish author and playwright. Johanne Ambrosius (1854-1939) was a Norwegian painter and illustrator.
In the realm of royalty, Johanne Sophie of Saxe-Coburg-Saalfeld (1778-1835) was a German princess and the mother of Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom. Johanne Frederikke Margrethe Schulin (1788-1876) was a Norwegian countess and landowner.
Other notable individuals with the name Johanne include Johanne Dybwad (1867-1950), a Norwegian feminist and politician, and Johanne Heiberg (1756-1816), a Danish actor and theater director.
While the name Johanne has been more prevalent in Scandinavian countries, it has also been used in other parts of Europe, particularly in Germany and the Netherlands, where it is a variant of the name Johanna.
People
Johanne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Johanne 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
Johanne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Johanne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 826 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Johanne 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 414,957 US residents.
Is Johanne a common name?
We classify Johanne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,453 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Johanne most popular?
The single biggest year for Johanne was 1939, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Johanne is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Johanne a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Johanne 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.