ninan.org

Janet

Girls' name · Mid-century

Living in the US
~378,600 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#2,778 among girls
Births in 2025
61 558,291 since 1880
Typical age
70 years, median

Janet popularity over time

Janet rank by birth year, 1880–2025Janet ranked #294 in 1880 and #2,778 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #16, in 1938.#100#1,000#2,778best #16 in 193818901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

The high point was 1954: 18,507 births recorded as Janet. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. It has held a top-100 place in 43 separate years.

As of 2025 the name sits at #2,778, with 61 births that year. Over ten years the count has fallen 61%. Year on year the rank dropped by 344.

Babies named Janet per yearPeaks at 18,507 births in 1954.18,507 in 1954018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Janet?

An estimated 378,600 living Americans are called Janet. That is out of 558,291 recorded births since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Janet?

Median age among living Janets: 70. More of them were born in the 1950s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Janet a mid-century name.

Your Janet

Ages of living people named JanetHalf of living Janets are older than 70 and half younger.median 70020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Janet is most common

The name is concentrated in California, at 1.9× the national rate.

Where Janet is used more than average2 states use the name Janet more than the national average.Alaska: not over-representedAKMaine: not over-representedMEVermont: not over-representedVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: not over-representedMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: 1.4× the national rateNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: 1.9× the national rateCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: not over-representedDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Janet is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
California 235 1.9×
New York 78 1.4×

Janet in England and Wales

ONS recorded 4 births named Janet in 2025, ranking it #4,867. That is 20% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Janet comes from

From Jane + et, q.v. Chiefly Scottish until the 19th century.

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Janet

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Janet Jackson American singer, songwriter, dancer and actress 1966 103
Janet Yellen 78th United States Secretary of the Treasury 1946 75
Janet Gaynor American actress 1906–1984 68
Janet Leigh American actress 1927–2004 63
Janet McTeer British actress 1961 45
Janet Napolitano American politician, lawyer, and academic administrator 1957 44
Janet Reno former Attorney General of the United States 1938–2016 39
Janet Jagan president of Guyana, prime minister of Guyana, nurse 1920–2009 39
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 3,060 in 1929 to 4,613 in 1930 — 1.5 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/janet.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).