Joan

Meaning

Name

A female given name from French, a feminine form of John.

Noun

1. (archaic, colloquial, obsolete) A placeholder or conventional name for any woman, particularly a younger lower-class woman.
2. (archaic, obsolete) A kind of close-fitting cap for women popular in the mid-18th century.

Synonyms

Jane

Joanna

Jean

Janet

Joanne

Johnny

Shane

Shawn

Jack

Shoan

John

Sean

Translations

Jeanne

Giovanna

Joana

Juana

Johanna

Jana

Ιωάννα

Joan

Johanna

Joan

Joan

Ιωάννης

Hans

Hannes

Pronounced as (IPA)

/d͡ʒoʊn/

Etymology

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.