Joanna
Joanna was the 306th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 997 babies. Its best year was 1984, when it ranked 88th with 3,332 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved unchanged. More babies were named Joanna in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Meaning God is gracious · Hebrew, Greek, Latin
Say it joh-AN-uh /dʒoʊˈænə/
- Rank in 2025
- #306 girls, down 50 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 997girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19843,332 babies
- Total since 1880
- 112,067babies recorded
What does the name Joanna mean?
Joanna comes through Latin and Greek Iōanna from Hebrew Yohanan, "God is gracious", the source of John. In the New Testament Joanna is one of the women who followed Jesus (Luke 8:3). DMNES gives the same derivation under Joan and notes the many queens and saints of that name. Joanne, Johanna and Jane are other feminine forms of the same name.
יוֹחָנָן (Biblical Hebrew, “God is gracious”)Ἰωάννα (Koine Greek, “Ioanna”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Joan, Johanna, Jane, Jo, Joanne.
See also: Hebrew names, names that mean God, names that mean grace.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Joanna', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources (ed. S. L. Uckelman), Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Joan', DMNES, Durham University
Nicknames for Joanna
The usual nicknames for Joanna are Jo, Jojo and Anna. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Joanna in the last five years, 286 were named Anna, against 739 twenty years earlier. Jo is also gaining on the full name.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jo · also for Josephine, Josie, Jocelyn | Traditional | #4,028 | 195 |
| Jojo · also for Joseph, Josephine | Modern | — | — |
| Anna | Modern | #107 | 14,215 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Joannas go by each one.
Joanna popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 306 since 1967.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #306 | 997 |
| 2020 | #256 | 1,176 |
| 2010 | #305 | 1,066 |
| 2000 | #238 | 1,349 |
| 1990 | #138 | 2,230 |
| 1980 | #163 | 1,725 |
| 1970 | #236 | 1,331 |
| 1960 | #329 | 820 |
| 1950 | #364 | 478 |
| 1940 | #314 | 412 |
| 1930 | #351 | 359 |
| 1920 | #554 | 167 |
| 1910 | #596 | 49 |
| 1900 | #573 | 37 |
| 1890 | #454 | 33 |
| 1880 | #313 | 26 |
How popular is Joanna, counting every spelling?
Joanna is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #308 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #306 for Joanna on its own. Together these spellings went to 1,069 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joanna | 997 | #306 | 4,963 |
| Joana | 67 | #2,596 | 331 |
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 Joanna?
997 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Joanna (0.28 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Joanna 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 8 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Joanna.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Joanna?
About 97,800 people born in the US named Joanna are alive today, with a median age of 38; half are between 22 and 50. That makes Joanna mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties.
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.
Joanna by state
How common Joanna was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Kansas (2.1×), Nebraska (2.1×), Iowa (1.8×), Ohio (1.8×), Arkansas (1.7×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New Hampshire, Montana, Nevada.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Joanna: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Joanna, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Joanna · Sibling names for Joanna
Questions about the name Joanna
What does Joanna mean?
Joanna means “God is gracious” (Hebrew, Greek, Latin origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Joanna?
Joanna was the 306th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 997 babies. Its best year was 1984, when it ranked 88th with 3,332 babies. Over the last ten years it has moved unchanged. More babies were named Joanna in the 1980s than in any other decade.
Is Joanna a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Joanna in the US.
Where is Joanna most popular?
In 2021–2025, Joanna was most common in Kansas (1.32 per 1,000 girls), followed by Nebraska and Wyoming.