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.

An example of the traditional French/Catholic style of double names starting with Jean: in this case, two Gospel writers. Star Trek, Captain Jean-Luc Picard is from 24th-century France, where the French language is almost extinct, but parents apparently still give their children classic French names.

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.

With its upbeat Slavic/Scandinavian air, it has the most potential of all the Jan names.

Johannes never caught on in the US, but popular European short form Hannes may be more accessible.

A Colonial-era nickname for Joan.

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.

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.

Jenica might work if you can't decide between Jennifer and Jessica. It's certainly a more distinctive option.

This might be a better choice than the similarly pronounced Jan, to avoid gender confusion.

Gio is a cute, more androgynous variation of Gia that could work well as a nickname for names such as Giovanna, Giordana, or Giorgia. It was chosen by Adam Levine and Behati Prinsloo for their daughter in 2018.

Traditionally a masculine Italian boy name, a diminutive to Giovanni, equivalent to Johnny, it has started to be used for girls in the US, with 251 being given this appellation in 2021. While it has declined in use since then, the most recent year still saw it given to 200 girls.

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.

Rare Scottish variant of John, with multicultural overtones.

A contracted form of Yehochanan, the Biblical Hebrew form of John. Variants include Yohanan and Johanan and the increasingly popular short form is Yahya.

Evans is an historic Welsh patronymic surname, derived from Evan, which is a form of John. With Evan's popularity in the U.S. and the U.K. -- it's a Top 50 names -- the stylish s-ending version may also be on the rise.

Juana with an X factor.

Classically, the De- prefix indicates "son of," so any variation of this name could work for the child of a dad named Shawn or Sean.

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 common name for both boys and girls in Scandinavia would definitely work better as a feminine name in the U.S.