Jihan
Feminine · “the world”
Jihan is given to both — 613 girls and 127 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Jihan is the world. The Persian jahan means exactly that, and it has traveled about as far as a word can — into Arabic, into Turkish, into Urdu, and onto the most famous building in India, since the emperor who built the Taj Mahal was called Shah Jahan, king of the world. As a name it is used for daughters and sons alike.
How old is the name Jihan?
Jihan first appears in US birth records in 1976 — 49 years ago. The typical Jihan alive today was born around 1988, making them about 37 years old. About 600 people named Jihan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Jihan most popular?
Jihan peaked in 1982, reaching #1822 nationally. Today it ranks #13208, 11,386 places below that high. See the whole 1982 chart.
Where it comes from
From jahan to Jihan
The story of Jihan
Persian was the language of administration and poetry from Anatolia to Bengal for a very long time, and its vocabulary spread accordingly. Shah Jahan ruled the Mughal empire in the seventeenth century and built the Taj Mahal for his wife; his throne-name is the clearest example of what the word carried. Jihan is one of the spellings the name takes in Arabic-speaking countries, where it is used mostly for women, and in Turkish, where Cihan is a men's name. American records show it entering very recently and being given to both sexes, leaning slightly to boys.
Meaning
the world
From the Persian jahan, world or universe, an ordinary and very old word. It appears in compound names across the Persian-speaking world and everywhere Persian was a court language, which for several centuries was most of southern and central Asia.
How the name formed
- jahan
- Jihan
Related forms: Jahan · Cihan · Jihan · Jahan
Pronouncing Jihan
jee-HAHN
Two syllables with the stress at the back and an open final vowel. Arabic and Persian both give the h a fuller breath than English does. English speakers occasionally confuse it in writing with an unrelated Arabic word about struggle, which is worth knowing about.
Nicknames for Jihan
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
- 1976
- Most girls named
- 198259 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1822reached in 1982
- Change vs 2024
- −33.3%6 in 2025, from 9
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.
Jihan in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Jahan in Persian — same name
- Cihan in Turkish — same name
- Jihan in Arabic — same name
- Jahan in Urdu — same name
Jihans among us
people named Jihan are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 267,878 born in 2025 was named Jihan
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 Lanetta test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Jihan's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Lanetta climbed just as high around 1967, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Lanetta's path sketches the road Jihan is walking now.
Jihan 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
Jihan beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Jihan in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The meaning is one word long, unusually large, and easy to explain.
- It is used across Persian, Arabic, Turkish and Urdu naming, so it travels widely.
- Five letters, two syllables, and no sound English lacks.
- It works for a child of either sex, which the record confirms.
- It is one letter from an Arabic word that carries heavy political freight in English-language news, and the confusion will occur.
- In Turkey the name is a man's and in the Arab world mostly a woman's, so international relatives may disagree about it.
- Jehan, Cihan and Jahan are all in use, so the spelling has to be dictated.
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What they receive
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Jihan
Feminine · #13208 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Jihans 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 Jihan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Jihan in 2025?
- Jihan ranks #13208 among US girl names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Jihan?
- About 1 in every 267,878 US girls born in 2025 was named Jihan — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Jihan with classmates?
- Jihan will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Jihan
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
John#13208 · Vinnie#13208 · Margery#13208 · Jossie#13208 · Tressa#13208 · Erie#13208 · Bernadine#13208 · Euna#13208
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Jihan? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Jihan and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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