first name
JOAN
of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census
Of the 306,627 people named Joan, 87.5% reported their origin as White, 5.7% as Black and 3.6% as Hispanic or Latino. 96.8% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.
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Joan peaked in 1932, when 21,132 babies got the name.
At least 488,939 babies have been given the name since 1880. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.
Joan by decade
Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #17. The largest share of babies named Joan, 55.4%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.
Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.
Where Joan is most common
Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Joan has been most common in Rhode Island (2.2×), New York (2.2×), and Massachusetts (2.1×), and least common in Nevada (0.2×).
481,282 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.
Either side of Joan
Spelled almost the same
8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Joan, most common first.
Also a last name
As a last name, Joan ranks #51,280 of 156,621, with 439 people. See Joan as a last name
Compare
🔎 JOAN 🟦🟦🟦🟦⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜⬜ 1 in 985 Americans More common than 61.8% of us Peaked in 1932 with 21,132 babies Beat that 👇 https://howrareismy.name/first/joan/