Janis
Janis was the 9736th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 10 babies. Its best year was 1947, when it ranked 108th with 3,205 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 5,093 places. More babies were named Janis in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Meaning (as Janice) variant of Jane · English, Hebrew
- Rank in 2025
- #9,736 girls, up 887 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 10girls
- Girls and boys
- 83% girls, 17% boys2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19473,205 babies
- Total since 1880
- 49,015babies recorded
What does the name Janis mean?
Janis is a spelling of Janice, pronounced the same way, so it shares Janice's meaning and origin.
Janice is a variant of Jane, formed under the influence of names such as Alice, Bernice and Eunice, as Wiktionary notes. Jane comes from Latin Johanna, the feminine of John, from Hebrew Yoḥanan 'YHWH is gracious'. Janice was popularized by Paul Leicester Ford's novel Janice Meredith (1899) and was common in the US in the 1940s and 1950s.
Jane (English, “from Johanna”)יוֹחָנָן (Yoḥanan) (Biblical Hebrew, “YHWH is gracious”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Jane, Janis, Janet, Jan.
See also: Hebrew names, names that mean God, names that mean grace.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Janice', Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Joan', DMNES (Durham University)
Janis popularity since 1880
| Year | Rank (girls) | Rank (boys) | Babies (girls) | Babies (boys) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #9,736 | — | 10 | — |
| 2020 | #10,623 | — | 9 | — |
| 2010 | #4,063 | — | 37 | — |
| 2000 | #3,616 | #11,121 | 36 | 5 |
| 1990 | #2,581 | — | 46 | — |
| 1980 | #1,036 | #6,674 | 138 | 5 |
| 1970 | #660 | — | 244 | — |
| 1960 | #321 | #3,838 | 857 | 6 |
| 1950 | #136 | #3,490 | 2,295 | 6 |
| 1940 | #260 | — | 578 | — |
| 1930 | #403 | — | 270 | — |
| 1920 | #660 | — | 121 | — |
| 1910 | #1,844 | — | 8 | — |
| 1900 | — | — | — | — |
| 1890 | — | — | — | — |
| 1880 | — | — | — | — |
How popular is Janis, counting every spelling?
Janis is a spelling of Janice, a name family that had 88 girls in 2025 across its spellings. Together these spellings went to 88 girls in 2025.
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Janis?
10 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Janis (0.00 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Janis born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 831 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Janis.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Janis?
About 32,700 people born in the US named Janis are alive today, with a median age of 73; half are between 67 and 78. That makes Janis a name most people associate with older generations.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Janis: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Janis, they share its era and feel.
Questions about the name Janis
What does Janis mean?
Janis is a spelling of Janice, which means “variant of Jane” (English, Hebrew origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Janis?
Janis was the 9736th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 10 babies. Its best year was 1947, when it ranked 108th with 3,205 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved down 5,093 places. More babies were named Janis in the 1950s than in any other decade.
Is Janis a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, 83% girls, 17% boys given the name Janis in the US.