January
Feminine · “Latin Ianuarius”
Janus had a temple whose doors stood open in war and shut in peace, and Roman writers noted with some embarrassment how rarely they were shut: three or four times in seven hundred years.
How old is the name January?
January first appears in US birth records in 1951 — 74 years ago. The typical January alive today was born around 1980, making them about 45 years old. About 2,100 people named January are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name January most popular?
January peaked in 1978, reaching #638 nationally. Today it ranks #10107, 9,469 places below that high. See the whole 1978 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Ianus to January
The story of January
Janus is one of the few major Roman gods with no Greek equivalent, which suggests he is genuinely old and genuinely Italian. He governs doorways, gates, beginnings and endings, and his two faces look forward and back at once; he was invoked first in any list of gods, before Jupiter. The temple in the Forum had double doors that were opened when Rome was at war and closed when it was at peace, and the closing was rare enough to be a boast: Augustus recorded that he had shut them three times, and that they had been shut only twice before in all Roman history. The month took his name as the year's threshold. As an American girl's name it arrived with a 1973 bestseller whose heroine was called January, and the film followed in 1975.
Meaning
Latin Ianuarius, the month of Janus
From Latin Ianuarius, the month named for Janus, the Roman god of doorways, beginnings and transitions, who is shown with two faces looking in opposite directions. The name's American use as a girl's name follows a 1973 novel; the peak is 1978.
How the name formed
- Ianus
- Ianuarius
- January
Related forms: Enero · Gennaio
Pronouncing January
JAN-yoo-air-ee
Three or four syllables depending on speed, stress on the first. The month and the name are said identically.
Nicknames for January
Moderate
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
- 1979216 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #638reached in 1978
- Change vs 2024
- −18.2%9 in 2025, from 11
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.
January in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Enero in Spanish — related form
- Gennaio in Italian — related form
Januarys among us
people named January are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 178,585 born in 2025 was named January
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Garnett test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. January's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Garnett climbed just as high around 1904, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Garnett's path sketches the road January is walking now.
January sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
January beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to January in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Jan is an immediate short form with a long history.
- The word is universally understood.
- The god behind it is documented and unusually interesting.
- It is a month rather than a name, which some settings will notice.
- Four syllables is long before a surname.
- The 1978 peak follows a single novel and film.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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January
Feminine · #10107 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Januarys are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named January are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name January in 2025?
- January ranks #10107 among US girl names in 2025, with 9 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name January?
- About 1 in every 178,585 US girls born in 2025 was named January — 9 in all.
- Will my child share the name January with classmates?
- January will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside January
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Berta#10107 · Jettie#10107 · Maye#10107 · Osa#10107 · Fidelia#10107 · Alysa#10107 · Su#10107 · Willie#10107
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles January? See the current top 100.
Choosing between January and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Weighing a whole shortlist? Add the rest in the builder, or settle it with a bracket.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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