ninan.org

Joan

Unisex name · Mid-century

Living in the US
~245,700 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#1,085 among girls
Births in 2025
454 488,939 since 1880
Typical age
76 years, median

Joan popularity over time

Joan rank by birth year, 1880–2025Joan ranked #492 in 1880 and #1,085 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #5, in 1931.#10#100#1,000#1,085best #5 in 193118901920195019802010
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.

1932 is the peak year for Joan, with 21,132 births. It appears in the very first year SSA covers, 1880. It has held a top-100 place in 41 separate years.

In 2025 it ranked #1,085 with 454 births. Over ten years the count has risen 69%. It climbed 155 places against the previous year.

Babies named Joan per yearPeaks at 21,132 births in 1932.21,132 in 1932018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Joan?

Roughly 245,700 Joans are alive in the US right now. SSA has recorded 488,939 births under the name 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 Joan?

The typical living Joan is 76 years old. The 1940s produced the largest surviving cohort. By the site’s era rules that makes Joan a mid-century name.

Your Joan

Ages of living people named JoanHalf of living Joans are older than 76 and half younger.median 76020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Joan is most common

Texas uses the name 1.7× as often as the country as a whole. Arizona and California follow.

Where Joan is used more than average3 states use the name Joan 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: not over-representedNYOregon: 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: 1.3× 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: 1.5× the national rateAZNew 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: 1.7× the national rateTXFlorida: 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 Joan is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
Texas 563 1.7×
Arizona 93 1.5×
California 491 1.3×

Is Joan a boy's or a girl's name?

98% girls2% boys
Share of all recorded US births under this name, 1880 to the latest year.

Recent births under the name Joan divide almost evenly between girls and boys. Across the whole record, 98.4% of births under the name were girls. The dominant sex is not the same at the end of the record as at the start.

Joan in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Joan ranked #2,006 in 2025 on 14 births.

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

Where the name Joan comes from

A clipped or hypochoristic form of Joanna, from Latin Joanna, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα, from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה, the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן which produced John and its many doublets. As a placeholder name, cf. similar use of John and Jack. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, Sheena.

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

Notable people named Joan

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Joan Miró Spanish painter, sculptor, and ceramicist 1893–1983 105
Joan Crawford American actress 1905–1977 101
Joan Baez American contemporary folk musician 1941 101
Joan Fuster Spanish writer 1922–1992 95
Joan Rivers American comedian, actress, and television host 1933–2014 87
Joan Fontaine British actress 1917–2013 77
Joan Enric Vives i Sicília Spanish bishop 1949 60
Joan Collins English actress, author and columnist 1933 60
Photo credits (7)

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

Names similar to Joan

Matched by sound and spelling inside this dataset, then ordered by total recorded births. This is not a claim about shared etymology.

Related pages

Get this data

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