Jan (name)

Jan is a variant of John in various languages and is a short version of Johannes.

The name is used in Afrikaans, Belarusian, Circassian, Catalan, Cornish, Czech, Devon dialect, Dutch, German, Polish, Slovenian, Scandinavian and Finnic languages. In English it is a shortened form of the first names Janice, January or Janet with corresponding pronunciation. It has a separate origin in Persian.

The Netherlands

In The Netherlands, the name used to be one of the most popular given first names. From the 1950s the occurrence of the name decreased. In 2014, no more than 3% of the boys are given this name.^[3] However, it still is one of the most widely distributed names. It is also the most common name of Dutch players in the national team.^[4]

The name Jan is sometimes combined with another first name, such as in Jan Peter (for instance in Jan Peter Balkenende), or in Klaas Jan (for instance in Klaas Jan Huntelaar). Very rarely the name Jan is given to a girl, as variants like Jannie or Janneke are more common.

Because the name is so common, the name is used in many expressions,^[5] such as "Jan met de pet" (Jan with a cap on its head), standing for a common person, generally from a lower social class, or "Jan en alleman" (Jan and all other people), standing for everybody.

People (first name)

• Jan III Sobieski (1629–1696), Polish monarch
• Jan Akkerman (born 1946), Dutch rock musician
• Jan Amos Komenský (1592–1670), Czech teacher, scientist, educator, and writer
• Jan van Bemmel (born 1938), Dutch medical informatician
• Jan Björklund (born 1962), Swedish politician
• Jan de Bont (born 1943), Dutch cinematographer, producer, and film director
• Jan Borgman (born 1929), Dutch astronomer
• Jan Buijs (1889–1961), Dutch architect
• Jan Dismas Zelenka (1679–1745), Czech baroque composer
• Jan Drenth (born 1925), Dutch chemist
• Jan Evangelista Purkyně (1787–1869), Czech anatomist, and physiologist, discoverer of Purkinje cells
• Jan Fontein (born 1927), Dutch art historian
• Jan E. Goldstein (born 1946), Norman and Edna Freehling Professor of History at the University of Chicago.
• Jan van Gooswilligen (1935–2008), Dutch field hockey player
• Jan Guillou (born 1944), Swedish journalist and author
• Jan Gunnar Røise (born 1975), Norwegian actor
• Jan Gustafsson German chess Grandmaster
• Jan Hammer (born 1948), Czech musician
• Jan de Hartog (1914–2002), Dutch writer
• Jan Heweliusz (1611–1687), Polish astronomer
• Jan van Hooff (born 1936), Dutch biologist
• Jan Hooks (1957–2014), American actress
• Jan Howard (born 1930), American country music singer
• Jan Hron (born 1941), Czech agroscientist, Rector of University of Life Sciences Prague
• Jan Huitema (born 1984), Dutch politician
• Jan Hus (burned 1415), Czech religious reformer
• Jan Jacobsz May, Dutch seafarer and explorer
• Jan Jagla (born 1981), German basketball player
• Jan Janský, Czech scientist, first classified 4 blood types
• Jan Jonsson (born 1952), Swedish Air Force officer
• Jan Kalvoda, (born 1953), Czech politician and lawyer
• Jan Kefer, Czech theurgist, astrologist and occult writer
• Jan Koller, Czech footballer
• Jan Korte (born 1956), Dutch footballer and manager
• Jan Kubíček (born 1927), Czech painter
• Jan Kvalheim (born 1963), Norwegian beach volleyball player
• Jan Laštůvka, Czech footballer
• Jan Lisiecki, Polish-Canadian pianist
• Jan Lucemburský, king of Bohemia
• Jan Masaryk, Czech diplomat and politician
• Jan Matejko, Polish painter
• Jan Matulka, Czech-American painter
• Jan Močnik (born 1987), Slovenian basketball player
• Jan Mohammad Jamali, politician from Jaffarabad, Balochistan, Pakistan.
• Jan Mohammed Khan, Governor of Uruzgan, Afghanistan.
• Jan Mølby, Danish footballer.
• Jan-Michael Vincent (born 1944), American actor
• Jan Murray (1916–2006), American stand-up comedian
• Jan Nepomucký (c. 1345–1393), Czech saint
• Jan Neruda, Czech journalist, writer and poet
• Jan Oblak, Slovenian professional footballer (goalkeeper)
• Jan Oort, Dutch astronomer
• Jan Õun (born 1977), Estonian footballer
• Jan Palach, Czech student self-immolated in 1969 protesting against the Soviet invasion
• Jan Pieterszoon Coen (1587–1629), officer of the Dutch East India Company
• Jan Podebradský (born 1974), Czech decathlete
• Jan Polák, Czech footballer
• Jan Ravens (born 1958), is an English actress
• Jan van Riebeeck Dutch seafarer and explorer
• Jan Rubeš, Czech-Canadian singer and actor
• Jan van Ruiten (1931–2016), Dutch politician
• Jan Sladký Kozina, Czech revolutionary leader of Chodové
• Jan Šimák, Czech footballer
• Jan Smuts, South African statesman
• Jan Shearer (born 1958), New Zealand sailor
• Jan Soukup (born 1979), Czech karateka and kickboxer
• Jan Staaf (born 1962), Swedish race walker
• Jan Steen (c. 1626 – 1679), Dutch artist
• Jan Stenerud (born 1942), Norwegian American football player
• Jan Ullrich German former professional road bicycle racer
• Jan Van Loon, dutch settler
• Jan Veentjer (born 1938), Dutch field hockey player
• Jan Erazim Vocel (1803–1871), Czech poet, archaeologist, historian and cultural revivalist
• Jan Vetter lead singer of German punk band Die Ärzte, commonly known as Farin Urlaub
• Jan Uuspõld (born 1973), Estonian actor and musician
• Jan Washausen, German footballer
• Jan de Wit (born 1945), Dutch politician and lawyer
• Jan Wohlschlag (born 1958), American high jumper
• Jan Žižka z Trocnova, Czech hussite leader
• Jan Zoon (1923–2016), Dutch politician

People (middle name)

• Kim Dickens (born Kimberly Jan Dickens), American actress

People (last name)

• Dominique Jan, Columbia University surgeon
• Georg Jan (1791–1866), Italian taxonomist
• Masood Jan, Pakistani blind cricketer

In popular culture

• "Jan" - Grease (1978)
• "Jan Brady - née Jan Martin" - The Brady Bunch (1969–1974)
• "Jan Levinson" - The Office (2005–2013)
• "Jan Valek" - Vampires (1998)
• "Jan Vertonghen" - Belgian Footballer(1987)
• "Jan" - Bring It On (2000)

See also

Notes

References