Jan (name)


Jan is a variant of John in various languages and is a short version of Johannes.
The name is used in Afrikaans, Belarusian, Circassian, Catalan, Cornish, Czech, Devon dialect, Dutch, German, Polish, Slovenian, Scandinavian and Finnic languages. In English, it is a shortened form of the first names Janice, January or Janet, with corresponding pronunciation. It has a separate origin in Persian.

The Netherlands

In the Netherlands, the name used to be one of the most popular given first names. From the 1950s the occurrence of the name decreased. In 2014, no more than 3% of the boys are given this name. However, it still is one of the most widely distributed names. It is also the most common name of Dutch players in the national team.
The name Jan is sometimes combined with another first name, such as in Jan Peter, or in Klaas Jan. Very rarely the name Jan is given to a girl, as variants like Jannie, Janneke or Jantje are more common.
Because the name is so common, the name is used in many expressions, such as "Jan met de pet", standing for a common person, generally from a lower social class, or "Jan en alleman", standing for a variety of people.

People (first name)