Joanna
Top 1000
About Joanna
Joanna derives from the Greek name Ioanna, which in turn came from the Hebrew name Yohannah. It is featured in the New Testament as a woman who accompanied Jesus on his travels and eventually reached saint status. Other names related to Joanna include Joan, Joanne, Johanna, and Jana.
The most usable name in her family (in English speaking countries, that is) Joanna has been unobtrusively fashionable since the 1980s and continues to be appreciated for its New Testament history and its melodious three-syllable sound, though the simpler Anna ranks much higher. Joanna was most popular in the mid-80s, when she made it into the Top 100.
Audrey Hepburn played a lovely Joanna in the film Two for the Road and Keira Knightley embodied it in Last Night. Both O. Henry and William Faulkner used it for characters.
The rhythmic Joanna is our choice over Johanna and Joanne.
Pronounced jo-AN-uh; yaw-AN-na.
As of October 2026, Joanna ranked #306 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #88 in 1984, Nameberry popularity #324.
Editor's take: The name Joanna is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "God is gracious".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #325 | 1,022 | 572.1 |
| 2015 | #306 | 1,065 | 596.6 |
| 2016 | #247 | 1,274 | 719 |
| 2017 | #234 | 1,352 | 783.1 |
| 2018 | #213 | 1,454 | 854.8 |
| 2019 | #254 | 1,280 | 762.6 |
| 2020 | #256 | 1,175 | 726.9 |
| 2021 | #290 | 1,101 | 671 |
| 2022 | #321 | 1,002 | 610.9 |
| 2023 | #339 | 918 | 572.1 |
| 2024 | #329 | 942 | 581.4 |
| 2025 | #306 | 997 | 620.3 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Joanna.
- Kathleen
- Elisabeth
- Bethany
- Marie
- Jacqueline
- Johanna
- Theresa
- Christine
- Ellen
- Laura
- Rebekah
- Monica
- Miranda
- Gabrielle
- Catharine
- Carolina
- Rachel
- Eileen
- Rebecca
- Maria
Joanna on lists
Famous Joannas
- Joanna of Castile and Leon
Queen consort of Philip I of Castile
- Joanna I
Queen of Naples
- Joanna of Austria
Grand Duchess of Tuscany
- Joanna of Rosenthal
Queen consort of Bohemia as wife of George of Poděbrady
- Joanna Kerns
American actress
- Joanna Russ
American novelist and feminist academic
- JoAnna Garcia
Swisher, American actress
- Joanna Lamond Lumley
English actress
- Joanna Virginia Cassidy
American actress
- Joanna Caroline Newsom
American singer,songwriter
- Joanna Lea (Stevens) Gaines
American TV personality ("Fixer Upper")
- Joanna Lohman
American soccer player
- Joanna Krupa
Polish,American model
- Joanna Noëlle Blagden "JoJo" Levesque
American singer and actress
- Joanna Gleason (born Joanne Hall)
Canadian actress and singer
- Joanna Louisa Coles
English magazine editor
- Joanna Rowsell
English cyclist
- Joanna Honorata Brodzik
Polish actress
- Joanna Chmielewska (Irena Barbara Kuhn)
Polish writer and architect
- Joanna Horodyńska
Polish model and stylist
- Joanna Natalia Jabłczyńska
Polish actress
- Joanna Jędryka
Polish actress
- Joanna (Cleo) Klepko
Polish singer
- Joanna Grażyna Kluzik
Rostkowska, Polish politician and deputy
Joanna in pop culture
- Joanna Chambers
character in the Power of Five series by Anthony Horowitz
- Joanna Dark
main character in video game "Perfect Dark"
- "Joanna Francesa
" 1957 Brazilian film and its main character
- "Joanna
" 1968 British film and its main character
- Joanna Lannister
wife of Tywin Lannister in the Game of Thrones series
- Joanna
lizard in Disney's "The Rescuers Down Under"
- Joanna Wallace
character in film "Two for the Road"
- Joanna Reed
character in film "Last Night"
- Joanna Beauchamp
character in the Witches of East End series
- Joanna McCoy
daughter of Leonard McCoy on TV's "Star Trek"
- "The Cloning of Joanna May
" science fiction novel by Fay Weldon
- Joanna "Jo" Parrish
police constable on Australian TV series "Blue Heelers"
- Joanna Marie "Jo" Polniaczek
character on TV's "The Facts of Life"
- Joanna Reece
character on TV's "Forever"
- Joanna Mills
character in film "The Return"
- Joanna Beth Harvelle
character on TV's "Supernatural"
- Joanna "Joey" Drayton
character in "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
- Joanna Wellick (nee Olafson)
character in "Mr. Robot"
- Joanna Forsythe (nee Clark)
character in DC Universe
- "Joanna
" song by Canadian band Hawk Nelson
- Joanna Eberhart
character in Ira Levin's 'The Stepford Wives' and is portrayed by Katharine Ross in Bryan Forbes' adaption.
Variations & nicknames
- ZannaPolish
- JanneScandinavian
- SionWelsh
- IonnaGreek
- YochannaHebrew
- ZanaPolish
- JohannahGerman
- YanniaGreek
- JohanneDanish
- SiobhánIrish
- JoinaDanish
- HanaCzech
- JoankaPolish
- ShonaScottish
- JanteDutch
- HanneGerman
- JohanaCzech
- JoneDanish
- JonellaDanish
- JohannaHebrew
- JonnaDanish
More nicknames
- Jo