Girl · #2,224 in 2026

Janice

Name: Popularity of the name Janice in U.S. births, 1880–2026
Creator: U.S. Social Security Administration
License: https://www.ssa.gov/foia/
Keywords: Janice, baby name, popularity, U.S., SSA, rankings

Janice is a modern feminine given name, an extended version of Jane, an English feminine form of John which is itself derived from the Hebrew Yohanan, meaning or Yehohanan. The name Janice was first used by American author Paul Leicester Ford for the heroine of the 1899 novel Janice Meredith.

Current Rank

#2,224

Peak Rank

#21 (1951)

Total Babies

407K

5-Yr Trend

-29%

1894

First Year

2026

Last Year

1951

Peak Year

#21

Peak Rank

407K

Total Count

129

Years Active

Meaning & Origin of Janice

What this name means, where it came from, and how it has traveled across cultures.

Source: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 3.0). Read more →

The Story of Janice

Janice first appeared in U.S. Social Security Administration records as a baby girl name in 1894, with 5 babies given the name that year. Its peak popularity came in 1951, when 15,959 Janices were born — ranking #21 that year. As of 2026, Janice ranks #2,224 for baby girls with 85 births, falling sharply (-29%). In total, more than 407K Janices have been born in the U.S. since records began in 1880, spanning the 1890s through the 2020s.

Popularity Over Time

Popularity by State

Top 10

11-50

51-100

101-500

500+

No data

Names that sound like Janice

Phonetically similar names — useful when Janice is the vibe but a different syllable count or letter feel might suit better. Linked entries have a profile on Peek a Name.

Source: Datamuse . Phonetic similarity ranking, not curated.

Frequently Asked Questions about Janice

What does the name Janice mean?

How popular is Janice in 2026?

In 2026, Janice ranks #2,224 among girls' names in the U.S., with 85 babies given the name that year.

When was Janice most popular?

Janice reached its peak popularity in 1951, ranking #21 that year with 15,959 babies given the name.

In which U.S. states is Janice most popular?

Janice has historically been most popular in North Dakota, Iowa, South Dakota. Rankings vary year to year, but these states show the strongest concentration of births named Janice.

Is Janice a unisex name?

In U.S. Social Security records, Janice is primarily a girl's name. We don't have meaningful data for it as a boy's name.

What names go well with Janice?

Names that share a similar style or popularity range with Janice include Josephine, Ellie, Penelope. These pairings are based on rank proximity and naming era in U.S. data.

About the name Janice

Janice is a girl baby name tracked by the U.S. Social Security Administration. It first appeared in SSA records in 1894 and has accumulated 407K births in the dataset. Janice's peak popularity came in 1951 when it ranked #21. Use the chart and map above to compare Janice's trajectory across years and U.S. states, or browse the related names section to discover similar choices.

Continue exploring

Data sources

Birth statistics (counts, ranks, years 1880–2026) — U.S. Social Security Administration . Predictions for years not yet released by SSA are computed by Peek a Name from historical trends; we update with official data as soon as it ships.
Etymology, cultural origins, and related forms — Behind the Name (used under their public API terms).
Meaning prose and editorial summary — Wikipedia article extracts, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 .
Predicted nationality distribution — Nationalize.io .
Phonetically similar names — Datamuse .

Peek a Name aggregates and presents the above data for informational purposes. Statistical predictions and external attributions are clearly labelled where shown; we make no guarantee of accuracy beyond what each source provides.