Recorded 1902–2025 · United States
Jan was most popular in 1954, when 3,761 American babies were given the name — ranking #207 that year. In 2025 it ranked #5,471, with 52 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 76,934 people named Jan.
Jan first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1902, which makes it about 123 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 119 of the 124 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 76,934 American births named Jan between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 58,240 are estimated to be alive today.
52 American babies were named Jan in 2025, ranking #5,471 that year.
Jan is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 64 births a year, against 108 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -41% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Jan is a unisex name — 70.9% of the 76,934 Americans given it were girls and 29.1% were boys. It changed hands: since 1984 it has gone mainly to boys, having gone mainly to girls before that. In births since 2016 it is 4% girls and 96% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 58,240 Americans named Jan are alive today — 76% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 68 years old, and half are between 61 and 74.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Jan on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org