Jan

English

Etymology 1

Proper noun

Jan

1. Abbreviation of January.

   Coordinate terms: Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov, Dec

   Alternative form: Jan.

2. A male given name from Dutch.

Translations

Etymology 2

From Old French Jehan (“John”). Doublet of John.

Pronunciation

• enPR: jăn, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒæn/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -æn

Proper noun

Jan

1. (dated) A male given name from Hebrew

Etymology 3

A clipping or hypochoristic form of Janet, Janice, Janine, Janis, etc.

Doublet of Ivanka, Janelle, Janet, Janey, Janine, Jeanette, Jeanie, Jeannette, Jeannine, Jen, Jenna, Jenny, Jessie, Jo, Jody, Juanita, Shanae, Sinead, and Vanna.

Pronunciation

• enPR: jăn, IPA^(key): /d͡ʒæn/

  • Audio (Southern England)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -æn

Proper noun

Jan

1. A female given name.
   • 1899, Paul Leicester Ford, chapter 1, in Janice Meredith:

     "Yes, Mommy," answered Janice. Then she turned to her friend and asked, "Shall I wear my light chintz and kenton kerchief, or my purple and white striped Persian?" "Sufficiently smart for a country lass, Jan," cried her friend.

   • 2008, Stephen King, Just after Sunset, Simon and Schuster, published 2009, →ISBN, page 129:

     She's startled. How long has it been since he called her Jax instead of Janet or Jan? The last is a nickname she secretly hates. It makes her think of that syrupy-sweet actress on Lassie when she was a kid, the little boy (Timmy, his name was Timmy) always fell down a well or got bitten by a snake or trapped under a rock, and what kind of parents put a kid's life in the hands of a fucking collie?

Derived terms

• not happy, Jan

Etymology 4

From various European languages, ultimately from Latin Johannes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɑn/, /jæn/

Proper noun

Jan

1. A male given name, equivalent to English John

Anagrams

• JNA, Jna.

Czech

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -an

Etymology 1

Inherited from Old Czech Jan, Ján, from Latin Joannes.

Proper noun

Jan m anim (feminine Jana or Janička, diminutive Honza or Janek or Janeček or Jenda or Jeník or Jeníček)

1. a male given name, equivalent to English John

Declension

Etymology 2

Proper noun

Jan

1. genitive plural of Jana

Danish

Proper noun

Jan

1. a male given name, equivalent to English John. Popular in the 20th century

Related terms

• (surnames) Jansen
• Jens and its variants

References

• Danskernes Navne, based on CPR data: 46 783 males with the given name Jan have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1970s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch jan, from Latin Iōhannēs, from Ancient Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן. Shortening of Johannes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jɑn/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: Jan
• Rhymes: -ɑn

Proper noun

Jan m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English John

Derived terms

Related terms

• Johan

Faroese

Proper noun

Jan m

1. a male given name

Usage notes

• son of Jan: Jansson
• daughter of Jan: Jansdóttir

Declension

German

Etymology

Borrowed from German Low German Jehann (/ʝəɦæ̃ˑn/). A Low German and North European variant of German Johann (“John”), popular in Germany at the end of the 20th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jan/,
• IPA^(key): /jaːn/, (considered wrong by some)

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -an, -aːn

Proper noun

Jan

1. a male given name

Limburgish

Alternative forms

• Janne (Eupen)
• Jean
• Jón
• Sjeng
  • Schäng (Eupen)

Proper noun

Jan m

1. a male given name, equivalent to English John

See also

• Hans

Norwegian

Etymology

From Dutch and West Frisian Jan in the 18th century. A contraction of Johannes (“John”). Newer variant of the more traditional Norwegian Jon.

Proper noun

Jan

1. a male given name

Usage notes

• The most common given name of men born in Norway from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Related terms

• Johannes and its variants
• (surname) Jansen

References

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 50 519 males with the given name Jan living in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1950s. Accessed on April 29th, 2011.

Old Czech

Alternative forms

• Ján

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin Joannes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (13^th CE) /ˈjan/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /ˈjan/

Proper noun

Jan m pers

1. a male given name, equivalent to English John

Declension

Descendants

• Czech: Jan

References

• Jan Gebauer (1903–1916) “Jan”, in Slovník staročeský (in Czech), Prague: Česká grafická společnost "unie", Česká akademie císaře Františka Josefa pro vědy, slovesnost a umění

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jan/

• Audio

  (file)

• Rhymes: -an
• Syllabification: Jan

Proper noun

Jan m (diminutive Janek or Jaś or Jasiek or Jasio or Janko)

1. a male given name, equivalent to English John

Declension

Swahili

Proper noun

Jan

1. Abbreviation of Januari.

   Coordinate terms: Feb, Mac, Apr, Jun, Jul, Ago, Sep, Okt, Nov, Des

Swedish

Etymology

Contraction of Johan (“John”). Recorded in Sweden since the 17th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Jan c (genitive Jans)

1. a male given name

Usage notes

• Common first part of hyphenated names such as Jan-Erik or Jan-Olof.

Related terms

• Johannes and its variants
• (surname) Jansson

References

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, →ISBN
• Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, →ISBN: 129 738 males with the given name Jan living in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1960s. Accessed on 19 June 2011.

Anagrams

• nja