Joan (given name)

Joan (/n/) is a feminine form of the personal name John given to females in the Anglosphere. It is the native masculine form of John (for males) in the Catalan-Valencian and Occitan languages, (pronounced [(d)ʒuˈan]). In both cases, it is derived from the Latin Ioannes and Iohannes and is thus cognate with John and related to its many forms, including its derived feminine forms.

Joan
Joan of Arc was largely responsible for the popularity of the name Joan for girls in the English-speaking world in recent years.
PronunciationEnglish: /n/ Catalan, Valencian, Occitan: IPA: [(d)ʒuˈan]
Gender
Female (for Anglosphere name);
  • Male (in Catalan-Valencian languages and Occitan language; the local form of John)
Origin
Word/nameHebrew
MeaningThe Lord is gracious
Other names
Related names
Female: (For more, see Joanna)

The name's ultimate origin, as with John, is from the Hebrew Yohanan (יוֹחָנָן),[lower-alpha 1] "Graced by Yah", or Yehohanan (יְהוֹחָנָן), "Yahweh is Gracious".[1] The name was disseminated widely into many languages and cultures from the Greek, via Latin Iōannēs (Ἰωάννης), along with its feminine form Iōanna (Ἰωάννα).[2]:144[3]

The Anglosphere female name Joan entered the English language through Old French, Johanne, a female variant of the male name Johannes.[2]:356

List of figures named Joan

People and fictional characters named Joan include:

Medieval period

Modern era

Men

Fictional characters

See also

  • All Wikipedia pages starting with "Joan..."
  • Darby and Joan, expression for a happily married couple who led a placid, uneventful life
  • Joanie

Explanatory notes

  1. Also, a related longer form, Yəhôḥānān (יהוחנן)

References

  1. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "John" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 15 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 432.
  2. Hanks, Patrick; Hardcastle, Kate; Hodges, Flavia (2006), A dictionary of first names, Oxford Paperback Reference (2nd ed.), Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-861060-1
  3. Yonge, Charlotte Mary (1884). History of Christian Names. London: Macmillan. pp. 189–191.
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