Given name & surname
Janis
Janis is used as a given name and a surname. Janis is connected with Janice and John.
Meaning & origin
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
How it developed
In English use, Janis is used as a spelling variant of Janice. Janis is used as a feminine counterpart of John.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1909. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin. In French use, Janis has a related form in Janice. The history of Janice gives this family its wider story. The heroine of Paul Leicester Ford’s 1899 novel Janice Meredith appears to be an early bearer. The added -ice ending connects its formation with names such as Candice and Bernice.
Combines direct and name-family evidence
Janis through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 49,015
- 174 boys · 48,841 girls
- Most popular year
- 1947
- 3,217 babies
- 2025
- 10
- #9,736 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- −32%
- Easing
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 10 U.S. birth records for girls, ranking No. 9,736 among girls’ names. Average annual use for girls was 44.1% lower in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. Its largest published annual count for girls was 3,205 in 1947. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 38,436 as a first name in 2020; 3,527 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.
Janis’s family of names
Janis is a feminine form of John. Janis has an alternative spelling in Janice. In English usage, Janis shares an earlier linguistic root with Jean.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Around the world
Janis has relatives in 5 languages. Lines run from its English roots to each of them.
Englishwhere Janis comes from · 21 names
Nicknames & forms 22
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 24
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
- Johnmasculine form
- Janedoublet · English
- Joannadoublet · English
- Joandoublet · English
- Shanedoublet · English
- Shawndoublet · English
- Johannadoublet · English
- Jeandoublet · English
Show 16 moreShow fewer
- Ivanadoublet · English
- Janadoublet · English, Czech
- Juanadoublet · English
- Johannequivalent
- Siobhandoublet · English
- Shaundoublet · English
- Joannedoublet · English
- JohannesGerman
- Siandoublet · English
- Jeannedoublet · English
- Sheenadoublet · English
- Shaunadoublet · English
- Shawnadoublet · English
- Shavonnedoublet · English
- Jendoublet · English
- ΓιάννηςGreek
People named Janis
- Janis JoplinAmerican singer (1943–1970)
- Janis IanAmerican singer-songwriterborn 1951
- Janis CarterAmerican actress, singer & television personality (1913-1994)
- Janis MartinAmerican musician (1940–2007)
- J. J. MoserSwiss ice hockey playerborn 2000
- Janis KarpinskiAmerican military officerborn 1953
- Janis SiegelAmerican singerborn 1952
- Janis Martinopera singer (1939–2014)
- Janis MorweiserGerman Nordic combined skierborn 1991
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Janis, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
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“from the bright clearing”
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Licia
Licia is a variant of Lecia. In English use, Lecia carries the interpretation “woman of the nobility; truthful; having high moral character.”
>99% girls
Lecia
“noble” · “kind”
>99% girls