Jan (pronounced Yann or Yaan) 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 and Scandinavian languages. The Slovak spelling is Ján. In English it is a shortened form of the first names Janice, January or Janet with corresponding pronunciation. It has a separate origin in Arabic.
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. 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. Other very common first names for males are Piet, Wim and Henk.
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, 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.
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 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 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 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 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 van Riebeeck Dutch seafarer and explorer
Jan Rubes, 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 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 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
Jan Bortolanza (2002-) Famous brazilian administrator
Kim Dickens (born Kimberly Jan Dickens), American actress
Ro Jan (1995), Srilanka
scientific fictional story writer
Dominique Jan, Columbia University surgeon
Georg Jan (1791–1866), Italian taxonomist
"Jan" - Grease (1978)
"Jan Brady - née Jan Martin" - The Brady Bunch (1969–1974)
"Jan Valek" - Vampires (1998)
