# Janice (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/janice/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “god is gracious” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈd͡ʒænɪs/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | Jan, Janis, Janyce |
| US babies named this | 407,605 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 1,157 / 406,448 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 326, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Variant of Jane under apparent influence from Alice, Bernice, Eunice, etc., from French Jeanne, from Middle French Jehanne, from Medieval Latin Johanna, variant of Latin Ioanna under influence from Latin Iōhannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets. As a placeholder name, cf. similar use of John and Jack and earlier use of Joan in the same role. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.

## What it means

Janice is grouped under grace.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 192 | 1,246 |
| 2012 | 192 | 1,260 |
| 2013 | 188 | 1,264 |
| 2014 | 178 | 1,330 |
| 2015 | 198 | 1,238 |
| 2016 | 165 | 1,407 |
| 2017 | 148 | 1,501 |
| 2018 | 154 | 1,436 |
| 2019 | 141 | 1,532 |
| 2020 | 97 | 1,962 |
| 2021 | 87 | 2,161 |
| 2022 | 90 | 2,129 |
| 2023 | 98 | 2,010 |
| 2024 | 83 | 2,254 |
| 2025 | 70 | 2,522 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1969 | 9 | 3,179 |
| 1970 | 14 | 2,558 |
| 1971 | 15 | 2,500 |
| 1972 | 14 | 2,586 |
| 1973 | 11 | 3,107 |
| 1974 | 6 | 4,888 |
| 1975 | 6 | 5,076 |
| 1976 | 5 | 5,980 |
| 1978 | 7 | 4,758 |
| 1979 | 6 | 5,659 |
| 1983 | 6 | 5,797 |
| 1985 | 8 | 4,885 |
| 1986 | 9 | 4,630 |
| 1987 | 6 | 6,448 |
| 1988 | 5 | 7,778 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 13 | 2,025 |
| 2012 | 16 | 1,809 |
| 2013 | 13 | 2,062 |
| 2014 | 13 | 2,058 |
| 2015 | 17 | 1,711 |
| 2016 | 8 | 2,966 |
| 2017 | 12 | 2,201 |
| 2018 | 13 | 2,090 |
| 2019 | 8 | 2,869 |
| 2020 | 4 | 4,535 |
| 2021 | 5 | 3,961 |
| 2022 | 14 | 1,948 |
| 2023 | 14 | 1,959 |
| 2024 | 9 | 2,771 |
| 2025 | 13 | 2,138 |

## People named Janice

- Janice Dickinson, American model and actress
- Janice E. Voss, American engineer and NASA astronaut (1956-2012)
- Janice Rule, American actress (1931–2003)
- Janice Cayman, Belgian footballer
- Janice Lawrence Braxton, American basketball player (born 1962)
- Janice Hahn, American politician
- Janice Kawaye, American voice actress
- Janice Raymond, American writer and radical feminist
- Janice Bremner, artistic swimmer from Canada
- Janice Karman, American actress
- Janice Eberly, American economist
- Janice Loeb, American film director, screenwriter, cinematographer and film producer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.