January

English word name
"month name"

January Origin and Meaning

The name January is a girl's name meaning "month name".

Thanks to two cultural influences, January has joined March, April, June and August as a plausible month name.

The first was a character named January Wayne in a bestselling 1973 Jacqueline Susann novel, Once is Not Enough, which was later made into a movie. Then, five years later, the mother-to-be of January Jones – future Mad Men star – was inspired by that character to give the name to her baby daughter, as did enough other parents in 1978 to bring January to Number 639 on the list.

So if you're looking for a cool namesake for an aunt Janet or Janice, January might be the perfect alternative. January, along with Snow and Frost, are also perfect names for winter babies.

# 749 in the US

January Rank in US Top 1000

January Popularity

Famous People Named January

  • January Kristen Jones
    American actress
  • January Thompson
    American techno singer
  • January "Jani" Schofield (b. 2002)
    daughter of Michael Schofield

January in Pop Culture

  • January Wayne
    lead character in Jacqueline Susann's 1973 novel "Once is Not Enough."
  • January "February" James
    character in TV show Arrested Development
  • January Singh
    character in the webcomic "Never Satisfied" by Taylor Robin