Joane
A feminine form of the French name Jean, which derives from Ioannes, meaning "God is gracious."
Name Census estimates that about 650 living Americans carry the first name Joane. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Joane today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Joane births was 1935 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Joane. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
650
~ 1 in 527,314 Americans
Peak year
1935
34 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
2006 SSA rank
#18,444
Tracked since 1921
Census
Joane in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,369 people with the first name Joane, which placed it at #9,924 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#9,924
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,369 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Joane
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joane is White at 54.5%. The next largest groups are Black (24.5%) and Hispanic (10.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Joane described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Joane at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.5% · 746
- Black or African American24.5% · 336
- Hispanic or Latino10.4% · 142
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.5% · 117
- Two or more races1.5% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 7
Popularity
Joane: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Joane from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 253 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Joane by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Joane during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Joanes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Joane, while Florida, Illinois, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Joane
The name Joane has its origins in the medieval French form of the name Joan, which was derived from the Latin Iohanna and the Greek Iōánnēs. This name can be traced back to the Hebrew name Yochanan, meaning "Yahweh is gracious." The name was popular in France during the Middle Ages and was often associated with royalty and nobility.
In the early 12th century, Joane of Navarre (1085-1127) was a Queen of Navarre who played a significant role in the political affairs of the region. She was known for her intelligence and diplomatic skills. Another notable figure was Joane of Penthièvre (1324-1384), who was a Duchess of Brittany and was involved in the Breton War of Succession.
During the 15th century, Joane of Arc (1412-1431), also known as the Maid of Orléans, was a famous French heroine who led the French army against the English during the Hundred Years' War. Her bravery and unwavering faith made her a prominent figure in French history and a saint in the Catholic Church.
In the 16th century, Joane Beaufort (1379-1440) was an English princess who was instrumental in the founding of the House of Tudor. She was the mother of King Henry VII, the first Tudor monarch.
Another notable figure was Joane of France (1312-1349), who was a Queen of Navarre and Countess of Champagne. She played a significant role in the negotiations that led to the Treaty of Brétigny during the Hundred Years' War.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Joane, which has been a part of European history for centuries and has been associated with royalty, nobility, and religious significance.
People
Joane + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Joane as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Joane: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Joane?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 650 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Joane going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 527,314 US residents.
Is Joane a common name?
We classify Joane as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,195 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Joane most popular?
The single biggest year for Joane was 1935, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Joane is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Joane in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,369 people with the name Joane, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,924 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Joane in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Joane?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Joane leans strongly female. 1,344 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 18 male bearers (1.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Joane?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Joane is White at 54.5%. The next largest groups are Black (24.5%) and Hispanic (10.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Joane most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Joane in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.5% (746 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Joane in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Joane a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Joane in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Joane still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Joane in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Joane can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people have the name Joane?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Joane, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.