Names That Mean Gracious

Ianto is a lively and unique spin on John, possible familiar to American sci-fi fans via the popular character on Torchwood.

A Scandinavian short form of Johanna, properly pronounced with a Y sound at the start, but would likely be read as the more prosaic "John-a" in an English-speaking context.

Goodbye Uncle Vanya and hello...It Girl baby name? It's true — style icon Chloë Sevigny chose the name Vanja for her son, born in 2020. The name honors Vanja's paternal heritage — Chloë's partner is the Croatian-born gallerist Siniša Mačkovic.

A romantic way to get to covetable nicknames Gia and Nina.

Jac is one of the new "creative" variations of Jack, a name on the rise in its own right and not just as a short form of John. But why, when Jack is so simple and so familiar, make it Jac and invite people to guess whether it's pronounced like Jake, or maybe like the French Jacques.

Another spelling of JANNIK, a John form that has a terminally Olde Worlde sound to the American ear.

Teasagh or Teasag, which can be Anglicized as Jessie, is a Scottish form of Jean, which itself originated as a Scottish feminine form of John. Scotswomen called Jessie are more likely to be properly named Teasagh than Jessica.

Anno is an extreme rarity: a simple, familiar-sounding name with deep history that is completely unknown in the US and rare in its native Germany. Anno is the name of a saint also known as Hanno, a 10th century archbishop of Cologne also known as Hanno of Worms.

Nicknames ending in o are invariably cute, though this one is a boys' name in its own right. And not just any boy name, but a saint's name no less. Saint Hanno, aka Saint Anno, was an 10th century archbishop of Cologne, He is also known as, less attractively, Hanno of Worms, which is one of the oldest cities in Germany.

Jianna was one of the fastest-rising names of 2020 after the deaths of Kobe and Gianna Bryant. It continued to rise in 2021.

This feminine form of Jean was most popular in the 1930s in its home country, and in the 1960s in the US. It's fallen off the Top 1000 list since, but perhaps cute retro nickname Jeannie could tempt some vintage-loving parents back.

High-profile First Daughter Trump bears a nickname for her mother's name, Ivana. But though quite common in Slavic countries, and despite its international appeal, Ivanka is likely to remain a Singe-Celebrity name in the US — the Oprah of the political world — for the foreseeable future. Ivanka's larger impact on names may be inspiring parents to name their daughters after their moms.

An lesser-known member of the John-Joan family, though popular in its native habitat, has never emigrated, possibly due to its non-intuitive pronunciation.

A simple and appealing multi-cultural form of John.

In Roman mythology, Iana was an epithet of Diana, goddess of the moon.

This spelling of the traditional nickname for John is a bit more feminine than Johnny, based on the fashion at the turn of the 20th century to use boyish diminutives ending in -ie for girls.

A joyous, celebratory-sounding name.

Juana with an X factor.

This common name in Finland, which is also a diminutive for Jan in Sweden, might feel a bit feminine in the English-speaking world, too close to girls' names Jan and Jane.

Rather dated smoosh name.