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 monarchJan Akkerman (born 1946), Dutch rock musicianJan Amos Komenský (1592–1670), Czech teacher, scientist, educator, and writerJan van Bemmel (born 1938), Dutch medical informaticianJan Björklund (born 1962), Swedish politicianJan de Bont (born 1943), Dutch cinematographer, producer, and film directorJan Borgman (born 1929), Dutch astronomerJan Buijs (1889–1961), Dutch architectJan Dismas Zelenka (1679–1745), Czech baroque composerJan Drenth (born 1925), Dutch chemistJan Evangelista Purkyně (1787–1869), Czech anatomist, and physiologist, discoverer of Purkinje cellsJan Fontein (born 1927), Dutch art historianJan E. Goldstein (born 1946), Norman and Edna Freehling Professor of History at the University of Chicago.Jan van Gooswilligen (1935–2008), Dutch field hockey playerJan Guillou (born 1944), Swedish journalist and authorJan Gunnar Røise (born 1975), Norwegian actorJan Gustafsson German chess GrandmasterJan Hammer (born 1948), Czech musicianJan de Hartog (1914–2002), Dutch writerJan Heweliusz (1611–1687), Polish astronomerJan van Hooff (born 1936), Dutch biologistJan Howard (born 1930), American country music singerJan Hron (born 1941), Czech agroscientist, Rector of University of Life Sciences PragueJan Huitema (born 1984), Dutch politicianJan Hus (burned 1415), Czech religious reformerJan Jacobsz May, Dutch seafarer and explorerJan Jagla (born 1981), German basketball playerJan Janský, Czech scientist, first classified 4 blood typesJan Kalvoda, (born 1953), Czech politician and lawyerJan Kefer, Czech theurgist, astrologist and occult writerJan Koller, Czech footballerJan Korte (born 1956), Dutch footballer and managerJan Kubíček (born 1927), Czech painterJan Kvalheim (born 1963), Norwegian beach volleyball playerJan Laštůvka, Czech footballerJan Lisiecki, Polish-Canadian pianistJan Lucemburský, king of BohemiaJan Masaryk, Czech diplomat and politicianJan Matejko, Polish painterJan Močnik (born 1987), Slovenian basketball playerJan Mohammad Jamali, politician from Jaffarabad, Balochistan, Pakistan.Jan Mohammed Khan, Governor of Uruzgan, Afghanistan.Jan Mølby, Danish footballer.Jan Nepomucký (c. 1345–1393), Czech saintJan Neruda, Czech journalist, writer and poetJan Oblak, Slovenian professional footballer (goalkeeper)Jan Oort, Dutch astronomerJan Õun (born 1977), Estonian footballerJan Palach, Czech student self-immolated in 1969 protesting against the Soviet invasionJan Pieterszoon Coen (1587–1629), officer of the Dutch East India CompanyJan Podebradský (born 1974), Czech decathleteJan Polák, Czech footballerJan van Riebeeck Dutch seafarer and explorerJan Rubes, Czech-Canadian singer and actorJan van Ruiten (1931–2016), Dutch politicianJan Sladký Kozina, Czech revolutionary leader of ChodovéJan Šimák, Czech footballerJan Smuts, South African statesmanJan Soukup (born 1979), Czech karateka and kickboxerJan Staaf (born 1962), Swedish race walkerJan Steen (c. 1626 – 1679), Dutch artistJan Stenerud (born 1942), Norwegian American football playerJan Ullrich German former professional road bicycle racerJan Veentjer (born 1938), Dutch field hockey playerJan Erazim Vocel (1803–1871), Czech poet, archaeologist, historian and cultural revivalistJan Vetter lead singer of German punk band Die Ärzte, commonly known as Farin UrlaubJan Uuspõld (born 1973), Estonian actor and musicianJan Washausen, German footballerJan de Wit (born 1945), Dutch politician and lawyerJan Wohlschlag (born 1958), American high jumperJan Žižka z Trocnova, Czech hussite leaderJan Zoon (1923–2016), Dutch politicianJan Bortolanza (2002-) Famous brazilian administratorKim Dickens (born Kimberly Jan Dickens), American actressRo Jan (1995), Srilankascientific fictional story writer
Dominique Jan, Columbia University surgeonGeorg Jan (1791–1866), Italian taxonomist"Jan" - Grease (1978)"Jan Brady - née Jan Martin" - The Brady Bunch (1969–1974)"Jan Valek" - Vampires (1998)