Joan
About Joan
Joan was the perfect name choice for one of the leading characters on Mad Men, being a quintessential girls' name of the period. A Top 10 name in the 30s, a Top 50 name from the 40s through the early 60s, it was the fifth most popular name in the country for three years running and ranks as one of the most common names for girls in the 20th century. But alas, Joan hasn't even appeared in the Top 1000 for a dozen years, and these days it's primarily associated with Joans of the generation of Joan Crawford, Joan Collins and Joan Rivers--just a few of the noted Joans whose ranks also include the singers Joan Sutherland, Joan Baez, Joan Armatrading and Joan Jett. But it's possible that modern parents who are reviving Jane might move on to Joan, inspired by Joan Hollaway Harris.
The first English bearer of the name was Henry II's daughter, Jhone, but the modern spelling was soon established, which is why Saint Jeanne d'Arc was translated as Joan, making her the most illustrious wearer of the name. By Shakespeare's time, Joan had become so overused that it was ripe for replacement by the newly coined Jane, the reverse of what happened in twentieth-century America.
Some livelier foreign versions of Joan include Giovanna, Siobhan, Ione and Juana.
Pronounced JO-un.
As of October 2026, Joan ranked #1087 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #5 in 1931, Nameberry popularity #673.
Editor: Pamela Redmond
Sources: US popularity data is from the Social Security Administration. Meanings and origins are from Nameberry's name references.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #2,430 | 75 | 42 |
| 2015 | #2,001 | 99 | 55.5 |
| 2016 | #1,845 | 112 | 63.2 |
| 2017 | #1,679 | 128 | 74.1 |
| 2018 | #1,744 | 118 | 69.4 |
| 2019 | #1,590 | 134 | 79.8 |
| 2020 | #1,545 | 137 | 84.7 |
| 2021 | #1,387 | 158 | 96.3 |
| 2022 | #1,412 | 161 | 98.2 |
| 2023 | #1,365 | 165 | 102.8 |
| 2024 | #1,238 | 188 | 116 |
| 2025 | #1,087 | 222 | 138.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Joan.
- Lois
- Judith
- Mildred
- Edna
- Susanna
- Dora
- Marjorie
- Virginia
- Francine
- Jemima
- Doris
- Georgienne
- Nancy
- Maryellen
- Jean
- Gertrude
- Bernadette
- Martha
- Gloria
- Hilda
Joan on lists
Famous Joans
- Saint Joan of Arc
French national heroine
- Joan
Princess of Wales and Lady of Snowdon
- Joan of Kent
"The Fair Maid of Kent," Princess of Wales
- Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur)
American actress
- Joan Fontaine
American actress
- Joan Ann Plowright
Baroness Olivier, English actress
- Joan Alexandra Rivers
American comedienne
- Joan Marie Jett
American musician, lead singer of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
- Joan Didion
American author
- Joan Ganz Cooney
American TV producer; creator of Sesame Street
- Joan Anita Barbara Armatrading
Kittitian,British singer
- Joan Chandos Baez
American singer,songwriter
- Joan Henrietta Collins
English actress and novelist
- Joan Allen
American actress
- Joan Cusack
American actress
- Joan Alston Sutherland
Australian operatic soprano
- Melissa Joan Hart
American actress
- Joan Smalls (Rodriguez)
Puerto Rican supermodel
- Joan Letitia LaCock
birth name of American actress Joanne Dru
- Joan Benoit Samuelson
American Olympic marathoner
- (Beatrice) Joan Caulfield
American actress
- Joan Bogle Hickson
English actress
- Joan Alison Turner Jara
British,Chilean dancer, widow of dancer Victor Jara
- (Virginia) Joan Bennett Kennedy
wife of U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy
- Joan Marie Laurer aka Chyna
American pro wrestler and actress
- Joan Lindsay
Lady Lindsay, Australian novelist
- Joan Orenstein
British,Canadian actress
- Joan Beaufort
Countess of Westmorland
- Joan Olivia Wyndham
English memoirist
- Joan Clarke
British cryptanalyst and numismatist
- Joan Shakespeare
sister of William Shakespeare
- Joan Taylor (born Rose Marie Emma)
American actress
- Joan Vollmer
the most prominent female member of the early Beat Generation circle
- Joan Delano Aiken
English author of supernatural fiction and children's alternative history novels, and daughter of Pulitzer Prize,winning author Conrad Aiken
- Joan of Acre
Medieval English princess, she secretly remarried below her status for love and was known for her independent nature
Joan in pop culture
- Joan
mythical female pope
- Joan Holloway Harris
character on TV's "Mad Men"
- Joan Callamezzo
character on TV's "Parks and Recreation"
- Joan Campbell
character on TV's "Covert Affairs"
- Joan Watson
character on TV's "Elementary"
- Joan Leland
character in DC Universe
- Joan
character in movie "The Way Way Back"
- Joan Girardi
main character on TV's "Joan of Arcadia"
- "Little Jumping Joan
" nursery rhyme
- Joan
character in the graphic novel/musical "Fun Home"
- Joan Terry
character in the "St Clare" book series by Enid Blyton
- Joan Millar
character on TV's "Love Child"
- Joan Lawson
mother on “Small Wonder”
- Joan of Arc
character in series “Clone High”