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`J´ Names That I Like - Girls & Boys

  1. Juanita
    • Origin:

      Spanish, feminine variation of Juan
    • Description:

      Pervasive in all Spanish-speaking cultures, Juanita, like Juana, has not emigrated.
  2. Jadyn
    • Description:

      For girls, the most popular form of a very popular name. See also Jaidyn, Jaiden, and Jaden.
  3. Joan
    • Origin:

      English feminine variation of John, Hebrew
    • Meaning:

      "God is gracious"
    • Description:

      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.
  4. Justice
    • Origin:

      English word name
    • Meaning:

      "the quality of being just, impartial, or fair"
    • Description:

      Justice, one of the rare virtue names for boys, entered the popularity ranks in 1992, and remained in the charts until the 2020s. While it has fallen out of favor in more recent years, it remains a fresh but solid feeling option.
  5. Jolie
    • Origin:

      French
    • Meaning:

      "pretty"
    • Description:

      Jolie is as pretty as its literal meaning; nowadays it is also seen as a girls’ name, via Angelina for whom Jolie was originally her middle name.
  6. Jerry
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Gerald or Jerome, German or Greek
    • Meaning:

      "ruler with the spear or sacred name"
    • Description:

      Jerry is one of those short forms that, like Mike and Debbie, rose to popularity on the coattails of their formal versions. The equivalents today are nickname names like Ellie and Theo.
  7. Jed
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Jedidiah, Hebrew
    • Meaning:

      "beloved of the Lord"
    • Description:

      Cowboyish short form that's both macho and cool. Got prime time exposure on The West Wing.
  8. Jerome
    • Origin:

      Greek
    • Meaning:

      "sacred name"
    • Description:

      Jerome has a bespectacled, serious, studious image, just like its namesake saint, who was a brilliant scholar. St. Jerome is the patron saint of students, librarians, and archaeologists.
  9. Jo
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Joanna or Josephine, Hebrew
    • Meaning:

      "Jehovah increases"
    • Description:

      The name Jo still evokes the spunky image of the character in Louisa May Alcott's Little Women. Its literary status makes Jo one of the OG boyish nicknames for girls, ala Frankie, Billie, and Stevie. If you like that form, you can lengthen it to Joey.
  10. Joelle
    • Origin:

      Feminine variation of Joel, Hebrew
    • Meaning:

      "Jehovah is his God"
    • Description:

      Joel is one of those boys’ names that's never been super-popular yet has never been UNpopular either -- it's been in the Top 400 in the US since we started keeping statistics in 1880. So it's inevitable that its female form Joelle would gain visibility too, and indeed Joelle was used most widely during Joel's reign in the Top 100, from the late 1960s through the early 1990s.
  11. Jodie
    • Origin:

      Spelling variation of Jody
    • Description:

      The Jodie spelling might be even more obscure, at this point, than the fading original, except actresses Jodie Foster and Jodie Sweetin have kept it in the public eye.
  12. Jaime
    • Origin:

      Spanish variation of James
    • Description:

      Though every Spanish student knows that the male classic is pronounced HY-me, for girls this is a straight homonym for Jamie, a favorite ambisexual 1970s nickname name. Another way to think of it is as a variation of the French "J'aime" (meaning I love).
  13. Joanne
    • Origin:

      French variation of Joanna, Hebrew
    • Meaning:

      "God is gracious"
    • Description:

      A Top 100 name from the 1930s all the way through the 1950s, it's now firmly in Mom -- or Grandma -- land and supplanted for babies by Joanna.....or even great-grandmother Josephine. In its heyday, it had a host of variations, including JoAnn and Jo-Anne.
  14. Jaclyn
    • Origin:

      Variation of Jacqueline, French
    • Meaning:

      "supplanter"
    • Description:

      Jaclyn is a feminine name derived from the English name Jacqueline, which is a feminine form of Jacques, the French form of Jacob. The name Jacob comes from Hebrew origin, meaning "supplanter."

  15. Judd
    • Origin:

      Medieval short form of Jordan
    • Meaning:

      "flowing down"
    • Description:

      Judd is a strong but sensitive short form that can easily stand on its own, the second 'd' giving it a lot more substance, and it would also be a good middle name choice. Two recent actors have given it credence--Judd Nelson and Judd Hirsch, and now it's most noticeably represented by comedy director Judd Apatow.
  16. Janet
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of Jane
    • Meaning:

      "God is gracious"
    • Description:

      Janet started as a pet form of Jane but has long been used independently. Jane is a feminine form of John, which derived from the Hebrew name Yochanan. Janet can also be considered a variation of Jeannette, a derivative of Joan and another feminization of the name John.
  17. Jon
    • Origin:

      Variation of John or Jonathan
    • Meaning:

      "God is gracious; or gift of Jehovah"
    • Description:

      Streamlined version of the classic boys' names, sometimes a short form of Jonathan, which is in fact an entirely different name from John attached to a different Biblical personage. Jon feels more modern than the traditional John, but some may find it an overly slight variation on an already slim name. Jon Snow is a popular character on HBO's Game of Thrones.
  18. Johnnie
    • Origin:

      Diminutive of John, Hebrew
    • Meaning:

      "God is gracious"
    • Description:

      This spelling of the traditional nickname for John is a bit more feminine than Johnny, based on the fashion at the turn of the 20th century to use boyish diminutives ending in -ie for girls.
  19. Janna
    • Origin:

      Dutch contraction of Johanna
    • Description:

      Could run into pronunciation confusion.
  20. Jillian
    • Origin:

      Phonetic spelling of Gillian
    • Meaning:

      "youthful"
    • Description:

      This spelling of Jillian is now much more popular than the original, maybe because the G version invites pronunciation problems.

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