Jan

YAHN; ZHAN

Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Polish, Slovene, German, and Catalan variation of John, Hebrew

"God is gracious"

Jan Origin and Meaning

The name Jan is a boy's name of Dutch origin meaning "God is gracious".

A standard form of John in Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Czech, Polish, Slovene, German, and Catalan. Properly pronounced yahn (in most of these languages), most Americans will still equate it with the Brady Bunchesque girls' name Jan, which is now officially extinct.

About 70 baby boys were named Jan in the US last year, and we'll bet many of those are pronounced the American way, rhyming with can.

Jan Rank in US Top 1000

# 961 in the US

Popularity of the name Jan

• 1735 Nameberry 2025
• 844 Unique 2018
• 412 England 2023
• 94 Germany 2024
• 46 Netherlands 2024
• 74 Spain 2023
• 98 Switzerland 2023
• 59 Austria 2019
• 3 Poland 2024
• 16 Slovenia 2023
• 22 Croatia 2023

20 Names Similar to Jan

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Jan.

• Filip
• Lynn
• Darrell
• Barack
• Mattie
• Dana
• Ken
• Terry
• Immanuel
• Shelby
• Darko
• Richmond
• Garth
• Duff
• Courtney
• Franco
• Janis
• Leigh
• Jody
• Fabrizio

Famous People Named Jan

• Jan Harm Pol, Dutch,American veterinarian who stars in the reality show "The Incredible Dr. Pol"
• Jan Hus Czech church reformer
• Jan van Eyck Flemish painter
• Jan Brueghel the Elder Flemish painter
• Jan de Bray Dutch painter
• Jan III Sobieski King of Poland
• Jan Magnussen Danish racing driver
• Jan Mela Polish explorer, teenage double amputee, youngest person to reach the North Pole
• Jan Lammers Dutch racing driver
• Jan Charouz Czech racing driver
• Jan Hammer Czech jazz,pop musician
• Jan Masaryk former foreign minister of Czechoslovakia
• Jan Tinbergen Dutch economist
• Jan Lamb Hong Kong DJ

The name Jan in Pop Culture

• Doctor Jan Szukalski character from Night trains, by Barbara Wood