Jane (given name)

Jane is a feminine given name. It is the English form of Jehanne, the Old French feminine form of Iohannes, a Latin form of the Greek name Ἰωάννης (Iōannēs), which is ultimately derived from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan), a short form of the name יְהוֹחָנָן (Yehochanan), meaning "Yahweh is merciful".

The name was first used in large numbers in the mid-16th century for the daughters of aristocrats as an alternative to the more commonplace Joan. The two names have alternated in popularity. In the early 19th century, Jane rose in popular use in association with its perceived glamour. Joan became more popular in the early to mid-20th century, when it was ranked in the top 500 most popular names given to girls in the United States, but it has again been displaced by Jane on the popularity charts in the 21st century.

Name variants

People with this name

Arts

• Jhane Barnes (born 1954), fashion designer ("h" added as adult)
• Jane Burden (1839–1914), pre-Raphaelite model and muse
• Jane Antonia Cornish (born 1975), British Contemporary classical music composer
• Jane Dyer (born 1949), children's book illustrator
• Jane Frank (1918–1986), American artist
• Jane Grier (1856–1902), Irish-German textile artist
• Jane Kelly (born 1956), artist and journalist
• Jane Sauer (born 1937), American fiber artist, sculptor

Crime

• Jane Andrews (born 1967), murderer of Tom Cressman
• Jane Britton (1945–1969), female murder victim
• Jane Cakebread (1830–1898), infamous drunkard; the Inebriates Act 1898 was directly due to her case
• Jane Toppan (1854–1938), American serial killer, nicknamed "Jolly Jane"

Entertainment

History

• Calamity Jane (1852–1903), U.S. frontierswoman
• Jane Addams (1860–1935), American Nobel Peace Prize-winning social worker and co-founder of Hull House
• Jane Kelley Adams (1852–1924), American educator
• Jane Grace Alexander (1848–1932), American banker
• Jane Digby (1807–1881), English adventurer
• Jane Franklin (née Griffin; 1791–1875), English explorer
• Jane Gemmill (1855-?), Scottish temperance activist
• Jane Horney (1918–1945), Swedish spy during WWII
• Jane Roe, alias of Norma McCorvey (1947–2017), plaintiff in the landmark 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case that legalized abortion in the United States

Literature

• Jane Austen (1775–1817), British novelist, known for Emma and Pride and Prejudice
• Jane Bowles (1917–1973), American writer and playwright
• Jane T. H. Cross (1817–1870), American author
• Jane Louise Curry (born 1932), American writer
• Jane Lewers Gray (1796-1871), Northern Ireland-born American poet and hymnwriter
• Jane Eaton Hamilton (born 1954), Canadian author
• Jane Hamilton (born 1957), American author
• Jane Harvey (writer) (1771–1848) British poet and novelist
• Jane Jacobs (1916–2006), American-Canadian journalist, author, and urban theorist
• Jane Lindskold (born 1962), American author
• Jane Roberts (1929–1984), American author, poet, psychic, and spirit medium
• Jane Smiley (born 1949), American novelist
• Jane Agnes Stewart (1860-1944), American author, editor, and contributor to periodicals
• Jane Suiter, Irish journalist and academic
• Jane Taylor (1783–1824), English poet and novelist
• Jane Urquhart (born 1949), Canadian novelist and poet
• Jane Wilde (1821–1896), Irish poet under the pen name Speranza
• Jane Wilde Hawking (born 1944), ex-wife of Stephen Hawking
• Jane T. Worthington (1821-1847), American essayist, poet
• Jane Yolen (born 1939), American author

News media

• Jane Elliott (born 1933), American civil rights activist, known for "Blue eyes–Brown eyes" exercise.
• Jane Grant (1892–1972) American journalist
• Jane Hill (born 1969), British newsreader
• Jane Kramer (born 1938), American journalist
• Jane Pauley (born 1950), American television journalist
• Jane Pratt (born 1962), American magazine editor and publisher

Politics

• Jane Ellison, British politician
• Jane Harman (born 1945), member of the United States House of Representatives, representing California's 36th congressional district
• Jane Irwin Harrison (1804–1845), first lady of the United States
• Jane Hill (1936–2015), Australian politician
• Jane Kagiri, Kenyan politician
• Jenny (Jane) Kenney (1884–1961) also known as Jennie, British suffragette and Montessori teacher
• Jane Muskie (1927–2004), First Lady of Maine
• Jane Pierce (1806–1863), first lady of the United States from 1853 to 1857
• Jane Pringle, American politician
• Florence Jane Short (aka Rachel Peace) (1881 – died after 1932), British feminist and suffragette
• Jane Swift (born 1965), American politician, acting governor of Massachusetts from 2001 to 2003
• Jane Lomax-Smith (born 1950), Australian politician

Religion

• Jane Elizabeth Faulding (1843–1904), British Protestant Christian missionary
• Jane Frances de Chantal (1572–1641), French saint

Royalty and nobility

• Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford (1505–1542)
• Jane Fellowes, Baroness Fellowes (born 1957)
• Lady Jane Grey (1537–1554), Queen of England, also known as "Jane of England"
• Jane Ingleby (died 1651), English aristocrat, recusant, and female soldier
• Jane Lane, Lady Fisher (1626–1689), played a heroic role in the escape of Charles II in 1651
• Jane Loeau (1828–1873), Hawaiian noble lady
• Jane Seymour (1508–1537), Queen and wife of King Henry VIII of England
• Jane Spencer, Baroness Churchill (1826–1900)
• Jane Wharton, 7th Baroness Wharton (1706–1761)

Science

• Jane Ammons (born 1953), American industrial engineer
• Jane Colden (1724–1766), American botanist
• Jane Forer Gentleman (1940–2023), American and Canadian statistician
• Jane Goodall (born 1934), English primatologist, known for studying chimpanzees and founder of the Jane Goodall Institute
• Jane Lord Hersom (1840–1928), American physician, suffragist
• Jane Hutton, British statistician
• Jane Loevinger (1918–2008), American developmental psychologist
• Jane Luu (born 1963), Vietnamese-American astronomer and defense systems engineer
• Jane McGrath (1966–2008), co-founder of the McGrath Foundation
• Jane H. Rider (1889-1981), engineer and bacteriologist
• Jane M. Simoni, American clinical psychologist

Sport

• Jane Barkman (born 1951), American swimmer
• Jane Burley (born 1971), Scottish field hockey midfielder
• Jane Cederqvist (1945–2023), Swedish swimmer
• Jane Frederick (born 1952), American heptathlete
• Jane Haist (1949–2022), Canadian discus thrower and shot putter
• Jane Joseph, Trinidadian cricketer
• Jane Katz (born 1943), American swimmer
• Jane Patterson, Canadian judoka
• Jane Salumäe (born 1968), Estonian long-distance runner
• Jayne Torvill (born 1957), British ice-dancer and 1984 Olympic gold medalist with partner Christopher Dean
• Jane Weiller (1912–1989), American golfer

Other

• Jane Bruce, Canadian teacher and principal
• Jane Norton Grew, American socialite
• Jane Rooney, New Zealand architect

Fictional characters

In law

Jane Doe or Jane Roe is used in American law as a placeholder name for anonymous or unknown female participants in legal proceedings

Jane Doe is used in United States police investigations when the identity of a female victim is unknown or incorrect, and by hospitals to refer to a female corpse or patient whose identity is unknown.

Characters in animation

• Jane Doe, on the animated series Camp Lazlo
• Jane Jetson, from the animated series The Jetsons
• Jane Lane, on the television show Daria
• Jane Dickey, on the short-lived series Welcome to Eltingville

Comic book characters

• Jane Foster, a Marvel Comics character
• Painkiller Jane, a comic book character that spawned a made-for-TV movie and a TV series

Characters in literature

• Jane, an AI character first introduced in Orson Scott Card's Speaker for the Dead
• Jane of the Volturi Coven, a character in the Twilight series of novels by Stephenie Meyer
• Jane Crocker, a character in the webcomic Homestuck by Andrew Hussie
• Dick and Jane, characters by Zerna Sharp
• Jane, an entity resembling modern conceptions of AI, from the Ender's Game series
• Jane, in Jane and the Dragon franchise
• Jane, any of three characters in The P.L.A.I.N. Janes, 2007 comic & sequels, by Cecil Castellucci
• Jane, Wendy Darling's daughter from J.M. Barrie's Peter Pan mythos; Jane was also the central character in the Disney Peter Pan movie sequel, Return to Neverland
• Jane Banks, one of the Banks' children in the Mary Poppins books, film, and stage musical
• Jane Bennet, in Pride and Prejudice, the eldest sister of the Bennet family
• Jane Eyre, the titular character of a famous novel by Charlotte Brontë and several film adaptations
• Jane Gallagher, a character in The Catcher in the Rye, one of the few girls whom Holden both respects and finds attractive
• Baby Jane Hudson, the titular character in the novel and film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
• Miss Marple (first name Jane), an amateur detective created by Agatha Christie
• Jane Porter, the sweetheart of Tarzan
• Jayne Deverill, a Yorkshire witch in the Power of Five series by Anthony Horowitz
• Jane Studdock, protagonist in That Hideous Strength by C.S. Lewis

Characters in TV, film, and theater

• Jane, on 7th Heaven
• Jane Sloan, from the TV series The Bold Type
• Jane Christie, from the TV series Coupling
• Jane Beale (previously Collins), from the BBC soap opera EastEnders
• Jayne Cobb, a male character on the sci-fi series Firefly
• G.I. Jane, a 1997 war movie, with Demi Moore in the leading role
• Jane Mancini, on Melrose Place and the 2009 remake
• Jane Vaughn, in Degrassi: The Next Generation
• Jane Gloriana Villanueva, main character of television series Jane the Virgin
• Jane Margolis, in the television series Breaking Bad
• Jane Rizzoli, in the television series Rizzoli & Isles
• Jane Hopper, also known as Eleven, a main character in the Netflix series Stranger Things
• Jane Read, character in the Arthur book and television series

Characters in video games

• Jane, a minor female character in the Tekken video game series
• Jane Shepard, a playable female version of Commander Shepard in the role-playing third-person shooter Mass Effect series; "Jane Shepard" is the default name for any new female Shepard character that is built in-game, although any name can be entered
• Jane Doe, a male character most commonly known as "The Soldier" in the popular class-based shooter game Team Fortress 2

In technology

• Jane, an available voice on devices from TomTom

See also

• Jane (disambiguation)
• Janes, the surname
• Janie
• Jayne
• Jayna
• Plain Jane (disambiguation)
• Jaine

Notes

1. Jane
2. Given name
3. Maria (given name)
4. Elena (given name)
5. Louie (given name)
6. Jean (female given name)
7. Janet (given name)
8. Unisex name
9. Roman (given name)
10. Marianne (given name)
11. India (given name)
12. Sarah (given name)
13. Tara (given name)
14. Eliza (given name)
15. Courtney (given name)
16. Amelia (given name)
17. Tamara (given name)
18. Sawyer (given name)
19. Emma (given name)
20. Jane (surname)