Name Awesome

Jovan

#1,746 in 2025UnisexBoys' nameGirls' name

Form of John

Jovan has been given to 11,063 babies in the U.S. since 1966. In 2025 it ranked #1,746 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 1998, with 270 recorded. It's used for both sexes: 90% boys, 10% girls all-time.

Babies named Jovan, 2025

1 in 35,600

Jovan over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Girls or boys — Jovan over time

In 2025, Jovan went to 0% girls and 100% boys.

19662025

A sex is only published in years it reached five applications, so a stretch at 0% or 100% means the other side stayed under that floor — not that it was never used.

Jovan: meaning, origin, and history

Form of John

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Jovan means

Jovan is a form of John.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Jovan → John. The family’s meaning is “Yahweh is gracious”, recorded in the naming reference for John.

Origin, language, and formation

Jovan is used in English and Serbo-Croatian.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include John and Јован.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Serbo-Croatian, Jovan is pronounced /jǒʋan/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 9,984 boys were recorded with the name Jovan between 1966 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 270 in 1998; its best national rank was #554 in 1979.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,404 in 2020 to #1,746 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,157 in 2015 to #1,746 in 2025.

In the United States, 1,079 girls were recorded with the name Jovan between 1974 and 2003. Its highest annual count was 90 in 1981; its best national rank was #1,375 in 1981.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Jovan?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 35,600
93 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 18,400
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#1,746
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
24,710 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Jovan 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 100Under 1%
School of 5001%

Put another way: gather 24,710 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Jovan. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Jovans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Jovan was born before 1998 — so the typical Jovan is around 27 today.

Median birth year
1998
About 27 years old
Biggest decade
1990s
24.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
42.8%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
9,984
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

1990s — 24.6% of all recorded uses (2,452).

Is Jovan 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
−1
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−342
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−589
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.57×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
34.4%
Peak was 1998 (270)
Years since peak
27
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Steady
7.9% average annual change
Best rank ever
#554
1979

Spellings of Jovan

Jovan is not the most common spelling — John is, with 67.8% against Jovan's 0.13%.

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 Jovan is used — boys

Across 2016–2025, Jovan was most concentrated in Illinois — about 1 in 9,091 boys, against 1 in 14,310 across all states with data. It was least common in North Carolina (1 in 100,000).

111 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Illinois1 in 9,091
  2. 2Arizona1 in 10,000
  3. 3California1 in 11,111
  4. 4New York1 in 11,111
  5. 5Massachusetts1 in 12,500
  6. 6Michigan1 in 12,500
  7. 7Florida1 in 14,286
  8. 8Texas1 in 14,286

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.

Where Jovan is used — girls

Across 1910–2025, Jovan was most concentrated in Louisiana — about 1 in 50,000 girls, against 1 in 269,532 across all states with data. It was least common in Virginia (1 in —).

02 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Louisiana1 in 50,000
  2. 2California1 in 100,000
  3. 3Hawaii1 in 100,000
  4. 4Illinois1 in 100,000
  5. 5Florida1 in —
  6. 6Georgia1 in —
  7. 7Maryland1 in —
  8. 8Michigan1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls 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. Jovan has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Jovan around the world

Where Jovan 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
    #782
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2013–2013
    #590
    in 2013
  • France
    1967–2025
    #2,269
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1991–2024
    #679
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1950–2010
    #754
    in 2010

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

Notable people named Jovan

People whose public names include Jovan, 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.

Jovan by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#1,746
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 342
Best rank ever
#554
1979
Peak year
1998
270 that year
First recorded
1966
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
9,984
Count in 2025
93

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#1,375
1981
Peak year
1981
90 that year
First recorded
1974
Last recorded
2003
All-time count
1,079
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Jovan

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

JovaniJovonJovanyDevanJovanniJovannyJavanEstevanStevanDonavanSylvanCavanJoviNevanRevanYuvanKevanGavanJovenJovianKavanVanJovinSullivan

Names with a curve like Jovan

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

SheaDeangeloJamilCortezRigobertoDemarcusKaseyJaronDontaeRashadGermanNigel

Sibling names for Jovan

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 Jovan

Top names of 1998, Jovan's peak yearThe 1990s in fullOther names that peaked in 1979Boys' names starting with JCroatian & Serbian Boy NamesCroatian & Serbian NamesJohn Variations & Nicknames