Head to head · Girls' names
Jane vs Jasmine
#221 vs #206 in 2025
Jasmine is a whisker ahead (#206 vs #221 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Jasmine is stepping back from its peak, Jane is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Jane has the edge.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Jasmine leads 4 measures of 6; Jane leads 2.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Jane #100, Jasmine — — Jane higher
- 1890s: Jane #118, Jasmine — — Jane higher
- 1900s: Jane #137, Jasmine #1951 — Jane higher
- 1910s: Jane #75, Jasmine #3203 — Jane higher
- 1920s: Jane #55, Jasmine #3501 — Jane higher
- 1930s: Jane #47, Jasmine #3602 — Jane higher
- 1940s: Jane #41, Jasmine #4604 — Jane higher
- 1950s: Jane #50, Jasmine #1868 — Jane higher
- 1960s: Jane #103, Jasmine #2054 — Jane higher
- 1970s: Jane #281, Jasmine #719 — Jane higher
- 1980s: Jane #325, Jasmine #128 — Jasmine higher
- 1990s: Jane #392, Jasmine #26 — Jasmine higher
- 2000s: Jane #431, Jasmine #32 — Jasmine higher
- 2010s: Jane #319, Jasmine #105 — Jasmine higher
- 2020s: Jane #265, Jasmine #180 — Jasmine higher
Jane stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Jasmine has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jane | Jasmine |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #100 | — |
| 1890s | #118 | — |
| 1900s | #137 | #1951 |
| 1910s | #75 | #3203 |
| 1920s | #55 | #3501 |
| 1930s | #47 | #3602 |
| 1940s | #41 | #4604 |
| 1950s | #50 | #1868 |
| 1960s | #103 | #2054 |
| 1970s | #281 | #719 |
| 1980s | #325 | #128 |
| 1990s | #392 | #26 |
| 2000s | #431 | #32 |
| 2010s | #319 | #105 |
| 2020s | #265 | #180 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Jane
Not charting outside the US.
Jasmine
- Canada#91
- England & Wales#92
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Jane
God is gracious
The English feminine of John, arriving through the French Jehanne. The Hebrew behind it is a short sentence about God showing favor. The name has been in continuous English use since the Middle Ages and has been through at least three periods of being extremely common and one long quiet spell.
Iohanna → Jehanne → Jane
How it traveled
The most famous Jane published anonymously and her name only appeared after she died. Jane Austen's novels came out as by a lady, and then as by the author of the previous one, which was the ordinary arrangement for a woman writing fiction; her brother put her name on the last two after her death, along with a notice explaining who she had been.
Jasmine
Jasmine flower
The word is Persian, yasamin, and it traveled with the plant: into Arabic, into Spanish and Italian, into French and then English, gathering spellings on the way. The name is the flower and nothing else, which puts it in the same class as Rose, Lily and Violet rather than in the class of names with a hidden meaning to be looked up.
yasamin → jasmin → Jasmine
How it traveled
Jasmine is one of the most expensive materials in perfumery for reasons that come straight from the plant's habits. The flowers give off scent at night, must be picked by hand within a few hours of opening, and yield so little oil that it takes several thousand blossoms to produce a few grams; a single field's harvest is measured in the weight of petals.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Jane
JAYN
One syllable. The silent e lengthens the vowel before it, which is the classic English use of a final e and one of the few places in the language where it is completely regular.
- Janey — The name softened; warm and slightly old-fashioned.
- Jenny — The traditional English pet form of this name, not of Jennifer, which is unrelated.
- Jay — Built from the initial; unisex, brisk and completely modern.
Jasmine
JAZ-min
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The Persian and Arabic forms begin with a y and put the weight at the back; the j is what French and Spanish did to that sound, and English took the French version.
- Jas — The front alone; brisk, unisex and very widely used.
- Jazzy — The front softened and spelled for the sound; affectionate and playful.
- Minnie — Built from the ending; an old name in its own right and unrecognizable as a shortening.
- Yas — The front of the Persian and Arabic forms, used by families who know those.
Who has carried each name
Jane
Jane Austen (b. 1775) — Wrote Pride and Prejudice
Jane Goodall (b. 1934) — Revolutionized our understanding of chimpanzees
Jane Fonda (b. 1937) — Two-time Oscar winner and lifelong activist
Jasmine
Jasmine Guy (b. 1962) — A Different World star
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Jane if you want…
- a name fewer children share#221 in 2025 — jane will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 42 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesJane is 1 syllable to Jasmine's 2
- a long American recordJane was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Jasmine if you want…
- a name most people already know#206 in 2025, 1,481 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsJasmine is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itJasmine runs 2 syllables, Jane 1
- a name that charts abroad tooJasmine is on the national lists of Canada and England & Wales
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Jane
Strengths
- One syllable, four letters, and nothing that can possibly be got wrong.
- It has been in continuous English use for six hundred years without ever sounding invented.
- Jenny is a genuine pet form of it, which most people no longer realize.
To consider
- The record carries it for boys in small numbers, so it is not quite an absolute signal.
- The associations with plainness and with anonymous bodies are both live in English.
- A one-syllable name gives nothing to shorten and no formal version to grow into.
Jasmine
Strengths
- Recognizable across Persian, Arabic, Turkish, French and Spanish with only small changes of spelling.
- The meaning is a real and pleasant thing that needs no explaining in any language.
- Several short forms with completely different registers, from the brisk Jas to the antique Minnie.
To consider
- The name is on record for boys in small numbers, so it is not the absolute signal it appears.
- Jasmin, Jazmin, Jazmine and Yasmin are all in use, so spelling it out is a permanent job.
- One animated film has owned the name for a generation of American children.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Jane
12%chance Jane feels dated by 2040
Jane has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Jasmine
80%chance Jasmine feels dated by 2040
Jasmine is coming down from a big peak (#23 in 1993). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Jane and Jasmine in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Silent Generation names (born 1928–1945)
- all guides
Where Jane and Jasmine each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jane or Jasmine — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jane or Jasmine?
- Jasmine, in 2025: Jasmine ranked #206 with 1,481 babies; Jane ranked #221 with 1,380 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jane or Jasmine?
- Jane. Over the last five years Jane moved up 42 places; Jasmine moved down 66 places.
- Which is the older name, Jane or Jasmine?
- Jane was already in use when US records began in 1880; Jasmine entered the US charts in 1906. On the American record, Jane is the older name.
- How many people are named Jane and Jasmine?
- About 215,000 people named Jane are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 255,000 people named Jasmine are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Janes or Jasmines in the classroom?
- Jane will almost certainly be the only one in school. Jasmine will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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