Jean
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from French. Variant of Jeanne, from French Jeanne, from Old French Jehane, from Medieval Latin Johanna, variant of Latin Ioanna under influence from Latin Iōhannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān). Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Jean (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Jean has been falling over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2015. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Boys |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | – |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | – |
| 2004 | – |
| 2005 | 2 |
| 2006 | 2 |
| 2007 | 4 |
| 2008 | 3 |
| 2009 | 2 |
| 2010 | 2 |
| 2011 | – |
| 2012 | – |
| 2013 | 3 |
| 2014 | 2 |
| 2015 | 6 |
| 2016 | 3 |
| 2017 | 2 |
| 2018 | 4 |
| 2019 | – |
| 2020 | – |
| 2021 | – |
| 2022 | – |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls | Men and boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1999 | 148 | 1,169 |
| 2000 | 143 | 1,155 |
| 2001 | 146 | 1,146 |
| 2002 | 148 | 1,107 |
| 2003 | 152 | 1,101 |
| 2004 | 149 | 1,086 |
| 2005 | 152 | 1,075 |
| 2006 | 154 | 1,071 |
| 2007 | 155 | 1,074 |
| 2008 | 153 | 1,083 |
| 2009 | 155 | 1,075 |
| 2010 | 154 | 1,082 |
| 2011 | 157 | 1,071 |
| 2012 | 157 | 1,075 |
| 2013 | 159 | 1,093 |
| 2014 | 160 | 1,106 |
| 2015 | 160 | 1,123 |
| 2016 | 161 | 1,134 |
| 2017 | 162 | 1,150 |
| 2018 | 165 | 1,161 |
| 2019 | 162 | 1,167 |
| 2020 | 160 | 1,146 |
Jean in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Jean.Hi! My name is Jean.
- Vet du om Jean kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Jean is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Jean har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Jean has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jeans mamma är lärare.Jean's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Jeans mamma is Jean's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Jean
How do you pronounce Jean in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Jean in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Jean mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from French. Variant of Jeanne, from French Jeanne, from Old French Jehane, from Medieval Latin Johanna, variant of Latin Ioanna under influence from Latin Iōhannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān). Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.
How popular is Jean in Sweden?
Fewer than two babies of either sex were named Jean in 2022. In 2020, 1,306 people in Sweden had Jean as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been falling lately and peaked in 2015 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.