Joan
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from French, a feminine form of John. A clipped or hypochoristic form of Joanna, from Latin Joanna, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets. As a placeholder name, cf. similar use of John and Jack. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Joan (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
Few babies have been given the name since 1998; it belongs mostly to older generations. 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 | Girls | Boys |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | – | – |
| 1999 | – | – |
| 2000 | – | – |
| 2001 | – | – |
| 2002 | – | – |
| 2003 | – | – |
| 2004 | – | – |
| 2005 | – | – |
| 2006 | – | – |
| 2007 | – | 2 |
| 2008 | – | 3 |
| 2009 | – | – |
| 2010 | – | 2 |
| 2011 | – | 3 |
| 2012 | – | – |
| 2013 | – | 2 |
| 2014 | 2 | – |
| 2015 | – | – |
| 2016 | – | – |
| 2017 | – | 2 |
| 2018 | – | 3 |
| 2019 | – | – |
| 2020 | – | 5 |
| 2021 | 2 | – |
| 2022 | – | 2 |
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 | 208 | 88 |
| 2000 | 208 | 94 |
| 2001 | 216 | 95 |
| 2002 | 222 | 97 |
| 2003 | 221 | 99 |
| 2004 | 217 | 101 |
| 2005 | 220 | 105 |
| 2006 | 217 | 107 |
| 2007 | 213 | 114 |
| 2008 | 218 | 120 |
| 2009 | 219 | 125 |
| 2010 | 225 | 126 |
| 2011 | 222 | 131 |
| 2012 | 227 | 140 |
| 2013 | 226 | 151 |
| 2014 | 220 | 161 |
| 2015 | 220 | 161 |
| 2016 | 227 | 165 |
| 2017 | 226 | 169 |
| 2018 | 228 | 182 |
| 2019 | 230 | 186 |
| 2020 | 231 | 193 |
Joan in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Joan.Hi! My name is Joan.
- Joan har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Joan has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Jag ska fika med Joan i eftermiddag.I'm having coffee with Joan this afternoon.
- Joans mamma är lärare.Joan's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Joans mamma is Joan's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Joan
How do you pronounce Joan in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Joan in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Joan mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from French, a feminine form of John. A clipped or hypochoristic form of Joanna, from Latin Joanna, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets. As a placeholder name, cf. similar use of John and Jack. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joanna, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.
How popular is Joan in Sweden?
2 babies were named Joan in 2022. In 2020, 424 people in Sweden had Joan as the first name they go by.
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.