English

Proper noun

Jan

1. Abbreviation of January.

Translations

Pronunciation

• enPR: jăn, IPA^(key): /dʒæn/
• Rhymes: -æn

Proper noun

Jan

1. (dated) A male given name

Etymology 2

Shortened from Janet and Janice.

Pronunciation

• enPR: jăn, IPA^(key): /dʒæn/
• Rhymes: -æn

Proper noun

Jan

1. A female nickname, sometimes used as a formal given name.
   • 1899 Paul Leicester Ford: Janice Meredith: Chapter 1:

     "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 (2009), ISBN 1416586652, 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 **** collie?

Derived terms

• not happy, Jan

Etymology 3

From Polish, Czech, German, Dutch, modern Scandinavian etc. Jan, from Latin Johannes ‎(“John”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈjan/

Proper noun

Jan

1. A male given name, in English mostly applied to foreign language speakers.

Czech

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -an

Proper noun

Jan m

1. A male given name, cognate to John.

Related terms

• (pet forms): Honza, Janek, Janeček, Jenda, Jeník, Jeníček
• Jana, Janička

Alternative forms

• Gan

Danish

Proper noun

Jan

1. A male given name, one of the cognates of 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

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɑn

Proper noun

Jan m

1. A male given name, cognate to John or Jan.

Derived terms

Faroese

Proper noun

Jan m

1. A male given name.

Usage notes

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

Declension

German

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jan/, [jan], [jän]
• IPA^(key): /jaːn/, [jɑːn], [jäːn] (considered wrong by some)
• Rhymes: -an, -aːn

Etymology

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

Proper noun

Jan

1. A male given name

Limburgish

Proper noun

Jan m

1. A male given name, equivalent to English John.

Inflection

• Dative and accusative are nowadays obsolete, use nominative instead.

See also

• Jean
• Jón

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 82-521-4483-7
• 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.

Polish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [jan]

Proper noun

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

1. A male given name (equivalent to John)

Declension

Swedish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈjɑːn]

Etymology

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

Proper noun

Jan

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 91-21-10937-0
• Statistiska centralbyrån and Sture Allén, Staffan Wåhlin, Förnamnsboken, Norstedts 1995, ISBN 9119551622: 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.

English

Alternative forms

• jân
• jann

Noun

jan

1. Obsolete form of djinn.
   • 1888, Charles Montagu Doughty, Travels in Arabia Deserta

     He cast out the demons of possessed persons, and he bound the jân, wellah, in yonder corner.

Basque

Noun

jan

1. food

Declension