January

jan-yuh-ree; jan-yoo-eh-ree

English month name from Latin

"doorway"

January Origin and Meaning

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

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.

More recently, January was used by Emily Henry in her popular contemporary romance novel, Beach Read, which might inspire parents-to-be in coming years. As of 2024, it was only used on 11 girls in the US, making it a very rare choice.

So if you're looking for a cool and unusual namesake for a Janet, Janice or Joanna – or for someone with a birthday in the first month of the year , January might be the perfect alternative. January, along with Snow and Frost, are also perfect names for winter babies.

January Rank in US Top 1000

# 749 in the US

Popularity of the name January

• 1394 Nameberry 2022

20 Names Similar to January

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

• Tuesday
• Tigerlily
• Holiday
• Pansy
• Honor
• September
• October
• Glory
• November
• Valentine
• Darling
• Bunny
• Bindi
• Moxie
• Peaches
• Prim
• Bliss
• Tulip
• Delta
• Velvet

Famous People Named January

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

The name 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