Janet

Janet: name meaning, origin & popularity

Meaning
“God is gracious”
Origin
English
Say it
JAN-it · 2 syllables
Used for
Girls

Medieval diminutive of Jane, ultimately from John via Old French forms such as Jeannette. Commonly used in English and Scots.

How popular is Janet?

202422.0 per million US babies
1880192019602000
Drag the line or the slider to read any year. Values are per million US births recorded by Social Security. Records before about 1937 undercount births, so early peaks can look taller than they were.

Babies named Janet in 202474

2024 rank#2,428 girls

Peak year1942

Total US babies since 1880558,224

Janet is fading: recent use is about 44% of its level ten years before.

Names like Janet

Variants, related forms and names with the same roots.

  • JaneGod is gracious · Hebrew
  • Jenniefair one · English
  • JanieGod is gracious · English
  • JeanetteGod is gracious · French
  • JanGod is gracious · Dutch
  • JayneGod is gracious · English
  • JeannetteGod is gracious · French
  • JanetteGod is gracious · French

Janet questions

What does the name Janet mean?

Janet means "God is gracious". It comes from English. Medieval diminutive of Jane, ultimately from John via Old French forms such as Jeannette. Commonly used in English and Scots.

Is Janet a boy or girl name?

Janet is mainly a girl's name in US records (100% of uses since 1880).

How popular is Janet?

74 US babies were named Janet in 2024. Its peak year was 1942.

How do you pronounce Janet?

Janet is usually pronounced JAN-it.

Birth counts: US Social Security Administration national data, 1880–2024 (names given to 5+ babies of a sex in a year). How we write meanings.