Joana
Feminine · “God is gracious”
Joana is the Portuguese feminine of John — God is gracious — the most productive name in European history.
How old is the name Joana?
Joana first appears in US birth records in 1896 — 129 years ago. The typical Joana alive today was born around 1999, making them about 26 years old. About 7,600 people named Joana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Joana most popular?
Joana peaked in 2001, reaching #698 nationally. Today it ranks #2583, 1,885 places below that high. See the whole 2001 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Yochanan to Joana
The story of Joana
Yochanan gave Greek Ioannes, Latin Iohannes, and then John, Jean, Juan, Ivan, Jane and Joan across Europe — no other name has produced so many forms. Joana is standard in Portuguese and Catalan. It appears in American records in current use.
Meaning
God is gracious
From the Latin Iohanna, feminine of Iohannes, from the Hebrew Yochanan, 'the Lord is gracious'. Joana is the Portuguese and Catalan form. The Hebrew is transparent and the chain of descent well documented.
How the name formed
- Yochanan
- Iohanna
- Joana
Related forms: Joana · Joana · Joanna
Pronouncing Joana
zhoo-AH-nah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Portuguese gives the j a zh sound; Spanish says ho-AH-nah.
Nicknames for Joana
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
- 1896
- Most girls named
- 2001357 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #698reached in 2001
- Change vs 2023
- +8.1%67 in 2025, from 62
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.
Joana in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Joana in Portuguese — same name
- Joana in Catalan — same name
- Joanna in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Joanas among us
people named Joana are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 23,989 born in 2025 was named Joana
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Joana
- #2583
- Joana on the 2025 chart
- #293
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Joana went to 67 girls in 2025, but Joanna is the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 1,069, which makes it the 293rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,290 places above the chart.
- Joanna997
- Joana67
and 1 rarer spelling.
About 1 girl in 1,504 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 23,989 for Joana itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Starla test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Joana's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Starla climbed just as high around 1966, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Starla's path sketches the road Joana is walking now.
Joana 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
Where Joana is headed
Joana should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
High confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Joana beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Joana in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It belongs to the most productive name family in European history.
- Ana is available as a short form with an enormous record.
- Three syllables of open vowels, which carries unusually well.
- Joanna with two n's is the commoner English spelling.
- Portuguese and Spanish say the j differently.
- It reads as specifically Portuguese or Brazilian.
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What they receive
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Joana
Feminine · #2583 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Joanas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,600 people named Joana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Joana?
- Joana is one of 2 recorded spellings. Joanna is the more common one — 997 births in 2025 against 67 for Joana.
- How popular is the name Joana in 2025?
- Joana ranks #2583 among US girl names in 2025, with 67 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Joana?
- About 1 in every 23,989 US girls born in 2025 was named Joana — 67 in all.
- Will my child share the name Joana with classmates?
- Joana will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Joana
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Azra#2583 · Jelani#2583 · Liba#2583 · Talya#2583 · Nature#2583 · Xylah#2583 · Island#2583 · Maleni#2583
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Joana? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Joana and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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