Recorded 1909–2025 · United States
Janis was most popular in 1947, when 3,217 American babies were given the name — ranking #208 that year. In 2025 it ranked #16,070, with 10 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 49,015 people named Janis.
Janis first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1909, which makes it about 116 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 117 of the 117 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 49,015 American births named Janis 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 33,990 are estimated to be alive today.
10 American babies were named Janis in 2025, ranking #16,070 that year.
Janis is falling. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 13 births a year, against 26 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of -52% 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 Janis is a girl’s name — 99.7% of the 49,015 Americans given it were girls and 0.3% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 93% girls and 7% 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 33,990 Americans named Janis are alive today — 69% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 73 years old, and half are between 67 and 78. That is a narrow band: Janis arrived and faded within about a decade rather than staying in steady use.
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 Janis on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org