Joanna

Meaning and origin

Joanna means “Yahweh is gracious,” sharing its roots with John. It is an English and Polish form of Latin Iohanna, which came from Greek Ioanna, the feminine form of Ioannes. Behind the Greek and Latin forms is the Hebrew name family associated with John.

In medieval England, Joanna was used as a Latinized form of Joan, the more usual everyday feminine form of John. Joanna became common as a given name in its own right during the nineteenth century. Its history therefore includes biblical use, medieval Latin writing, and a later return to wider spoken use.

Joanna in the New Testament

Joanna appears in the Gospel of Luke as a follower of Jesus. Luke identifies her as the wife of Chuza, who managed Herod’s household. She is named alongside Susanna and other women who supported Jesus and his companions from their own resources.

That passage gives Joanna a specific role among the women associated with Jesus’ ministry. The biblical bearer, who is regarded as a saint, helped establish the name within Christian tradition and distinguishes Joanna from a modern combination of Jo and Anna.

Pronunciation and familiar forms

In English, Joanna is pronounced joh-AN-uh, with three syllables and the emphasis in the middle. Polish pronunciation is closer to yoh-AN-na, with a y sound at the beginning.

Jo is a familiar short form in English, alongside Jodi, Jodie, Jody, and Joey. Polish familiar forms include Asia and Joasia. Johanna and Joan are closely related alternatives, while John provides the masculine connection at the center of the family.

Joanna Gleason and the Broadway stage

Actor Joanna Gleason gives the name a notable theatre connection. She played the Baker’s Wife in the original Broadway production of Into the Woods, which opened on November 5, 1987. The musical brought together music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim with a book and direction by James Lapine.

Gleason won the 1988 Tony Award for Best Actress in a Musical for her performance. Into the Woods also won that year’s awards for its book and original score. Her work places Joanna within the history of a musical that became a significant part of the Broadway repertoire, giving the name a stage association alongside its religious history.

Popularity in the United States

Joanna’s strongest American year was 1984, when 3,332 girls received the name and it ranked number 88. Its largest wave of popularity therefore came in the late twentieth century.

It ranked number 306 in 2015, rose to number 256 in 2020, and returned to number 306 in 2025. Those figures describe Joanna specifically, with Johanna, Joan, and other members of the family recorded separately.

How popular is Joanna?

In 2025, Joanna ranked #306 among girls in the United States, with 997 recorded uses. The U.S. birth records first list this spelling for girls in 1880; its largest annual count was 3,332 in 1984. Rankings count each spelling separately. They describe national use, so local familiarity can differ. The popularity chart shows whether the name has remained common, returned after a quieter period, or risen recently.