Janica
Feminine · “A Croatian pet form of Jana”
Janica is a Croatian pet form of Jana and an American build on Jan, the same letters reached two ways. The most famous Janica is a Croatian skier who won four medals at a single Winter Olympics.
How old is the name Janica?
Janica first appears in US birth records in 1951 — 74 years ago. The typical Janica alive today was born around 1987, making them about 38 years old. About 600 people named Janica are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Janica most popular?
Janica peaked in 1978, reaching #3388 nationally. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Jana to Janica
The story of Janica
Janica Kostelić, from Zagreb, won three gold medals and a silver in alpine skiing at the Salt Lake City Games, the first woman to win four alpine medals at one Olympics, and did it after surgery on her knee. In Croatian her name is an ordinary pet form of Jana. American families who gave it may have known it or built it from Jan and the -ica of Monica and Jessica.
Meaningscholars disagree
A Croatian pet form of Jana, or an American build on Jan
In Croatian and Slovene, Janica is a pet form of Jana, the local Jane. An American Janica may instead be Jan with an -ica ending; which a family meant is not recorded.
How the name formed
- Jana
- Janica
Related forms: Janica · Jana
Pronouncing Janica
JAN-ih-kuh
Three syllables with the stress on the first; in Croatian YAH-nee-tsah.
Nicknames for Janica
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1951
- Most girls named
- 198928 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3388reached in 1978
- Change vs 2016
- −25.0%6 in 2017, from 8
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Janica in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Janica in Croatian — same name
- Jana in Czech — related form
Janicas among us
people named Janica are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Janica sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Built on familiar pieces.
- Comes with Jan as a ready short form.
- Rare, so a Janica is unlikely to share her name.
- The American and Croatian pronunciations differ.
- People will write Janika or Jannica.
- It will need spelling out.
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Janica
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Janicas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Janica are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Janica in 2025?
- Janica is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Janica with classmates?
- Janica will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More J names
The most-given names starting with J, all years combined.
Jennifer#586 · Jessica#665 · Janet#2778 · Julie#872 · Joyce#1071 · Joan#1085 · Julia#131 · Jean#2117
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Janica? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Janica and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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