Given name & surname

Janak

“God is gracious”

Janak is a variant of Jan. In Slavic use, Jan carries the interpretation “God is gracious.”

Original CzechJanák

Meaning & origin

What it means

Janak is a variant of Jan. In Slavic use, Jan carries the interpretation “God is gracious.”

Explained through its name family

Where it comes from

Janak comes from Czech.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

How it developed

From Czech Janák.

Adapted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The story

Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1991. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.

From dated birth records

Janak through the years

Babies since 1880
15
15 boys · 0 girls
Most popular year
1991
5 babies
2025
0
Outside the ranked list
2021–25 vs 2016–20
—
Too few births to compare
012320002025Highest share 19980.0
Janak in U.S. Social Security birth records, 1991–2025, per million boys born. Years with fewer than five births for a sex are not published and appear as zero. Use the arrow keys to step through years.

By the numbers

The most recent published U.S. birth count for boys is 5 in 2002. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 664 as a first name in 2020; 1,212 as a surname in 2020.

From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.

Janak’s family of names

Janak has a related form in Jan. In English usage, Janak as a surname was borrowed from the Czech form Janák.

Walk Janak’s family in the name graph

JanakJanacJanJannakJanák

Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.

Hover or tab through the constellation to see how each name is related. Bigger dots are names more people in the U.S. share.

Nicknames & forms 2

Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.

Spellings & scripts 1

The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.

Across languages 1

Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.

Similar names

If you love Janak, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.

Old High German · Modern

Jagr

Jagr is a surname from Czech, ultimately from Old High German.

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Slovak · Modern

Malec

Malec is a surname from Czech, ultimately from Slovak. It is used in English, Polish, Czech, and Slovak.

0Not recently recorded

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Polish · Modern

Valek

Valek is a surname from Czech, ultimately from Polish.

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Polish · Modern

Jasek

Jasek is a surname from Czech, ultimately from Polish.

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Czech · Modern

Koran

Koran is a surname from Czech.

14Very rareEasing

>99% boys

Czech · Modern

Nedved

Nedved is a surname from Czech.

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Czech · Modern

Ondrej

“a manly man”

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Slovak · Modern

Andel

Andel is a surname from Czech, ultimately from Slovak.

0Not recently recorded

>99% boys

Sibling ideas

Names that share Janak’s feel without repeating its first letter or rhyming with it.

A brother for Janak

A sister for Janak