Joan
English or Spanish form of John, Hebrew, “God is gracious”
Joan of Arc was burned at the stake on May 30 in 1431. Her name has gone through remarkable ups and downs over the decades, falling off the Top 1000 in the early 90s after ranking in the Top 10 throughout the 1930s. It’s far from extinct though, with nearly 200 baby girls named Joan last year, about twice as many as were named the arguably more stylish Joni.
The real surprise, though, is Joan’s popularity as a boys’ name, primarily among Spanish-speaking parents. While Joan is an English form of John as a girls’ name, for boys it’s the Catalan variation of John. The name Joan was given to 220 baby boys in the US last year, 10 percent more than in 2023.
Jonni, Johnni, Johni as feminine forms of John may be more popular because Joni still sounds more like Joan than John.