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Johan

#572 in 2025Boys' name

Yahweh is gracious, through Johan

Johan has been given to 14,788 babies in the U.S. since 1910. In 2025 it ranked #572 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2016, with 659 recorded.

Babies named Johan, 2025

1 in 6,420

Johan over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020040060080018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Johan: meaning, origin, and history

Yahweh is gracious, through Johan

Hebrew, Persian and German

What Johan means

Johan belongs to the name family reached through Johan → Johan. Its meaning is “Yahweh is gracious”.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

An archaic variant of Joan, from Old French Johan, from Latin Johanna. Cf. John.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Johan (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Johan is used in English, Afrikaans, Danish, Dutch, Faroese, Malay, Norwegian Bokmål and Old Leonese and additional language sections. Its origins include Hebrew, Persian and German.

Johan comes through Old French Johan and Latin Johanna.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Joan, John, Johannes, Johann, Jóhan, Jóhann and Johan.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Faroese, Johan is pronounced [joˈhan].

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 14,653 boys were recorded with the name Johan between 1910 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 659 in 2016; its best national rank was #451 in 2008.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #600 in 2020 to #572 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #559 in 2015 to #572 in 2025.

In the United States, 135 girls were recorded with the name Johan between 1928 and 2007. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1928; its best national rank was #3,243 in 1936.

How common is Johan?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 6,420
516 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 3,310
0.03% of boys
Rank, 2025
#572
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
4,454 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Johan sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 1002%
School of 5007%

Put another way: gather 4,454 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Johan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Johans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Johan was born before 2011 — so the typical Johan is around 14 today.

Median birth year
2011
About 14 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
36.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
86.0%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
14,466
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 36.6% of all recorded uses (5,363).

Is Johan rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−35
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+28
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−13
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
1.00×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
78.3%
Peak was 2016 (659)
Years since peak
9
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
9.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#451
2008

Spellings of Johan

Johan is not the most common spelling — John is, with 65.1% against Johan's 0.18%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Johan is used

Across 2016–2025, Johan was most concentrated in New Jersey — about 1 in 1,639 boys, against 1 in 3,095 across all states with data. It was least common in Missouri (1 in 50,000).

261 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New Jersey1 in 1,639
  2. 2Maryland1 in 1,786
  3. 3New York1 in 1,818
  4. 4Texas1 in 2,273
  5. 5Florida1 in 2,381
  6. 6California1 in 2,439
  7. 7Connecticut1 in 2,439
  8. 8North Carolina1 in 2,439

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Johan is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 64% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Johan around the world

Where Johan ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #1,007
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2008–2013
    #520
    in 2013
  • Ireland
    1978–2025
    #676
    in 2025
  • France
    1906–2025
    #384
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #39
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #756
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1952–2013
    #389
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Johan

People whose public names include Johan, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Johan in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Johan. Linked forms have their own page here.

IanIonIvoJanJonEvanGianHansIoanIvanIwanJaanJackJeanJoanJoaoJohnJuanSeanYannYvanHannaHannsIeuan

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Johan by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#572
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 28
Best rank ever
#451
2008
Peak year
2016
659 that year
First recorded
1910
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
14,653
Count in 2025
516

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#3,243
1936
Peak year
1928
9 that year
First recorded
1928
Last recorded
2007
All-time count
135
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Johan

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

JohnieJohnathanJohnyRohanJohathanJohannJohnsonEithanJohnthanIshanJohnpaulAthanLathanYohanStephanJohnnieRehanJohnathonEshanJohnnyJohnellSohanFarhanJohannes

Names with a curve like Johan

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Johan, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

IzaiahJamariJulienAlijahNasirNehemiahOmariAlessandroKieranKoltonAryanMaximilian

Sibling names for Johan

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Johan

Top names of 2016, Johan's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2008Boys' names starting with JAfrikaans Boy NamesAfrikaans NamesDanish Boy NamesDutch Boy NamesNorwegian Boy NamesSwedish Boy Names