Names That Mean Gracious

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

Anže was originally a nickname for Janez, a Slovene form of Johannes, but now ranks in the Slovene Top 20 as an independent name.

A simple and appealing multi-cultural form of John.

Swahili form of John.

A Gaelic form of Jane which shares its simple, sleek look – but is much rarer. The Anglicized form Sheena peaked at #80 in the US in 1984, inspired by singer Sheena Easton.

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

The prefix La- was historically used by the Free Blacks of New Orleans in the nineteenth century to indicate paternity. Thus, someone named Lashawn was the son of Shawn, a phonetic spelling of Sean, the Irish variation of John.

DeShawn or Deshawn is the more popular variation, but Dashawn charted from the late 1980s until 2010, which means it's on its way to becoming a Dad Name. Traditionally, the De or Da prefix means "son of", so this name means "son of Shawn", with Shawn a variation of John.

It feels like a slenderized modern version, but Jennet actually has deep roots. Could this plucky name rescue Janet and Jenny from their datedness?

Finnish form of John

Sure to be mispronounced.

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.

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.

This variation of Ivan entered the US Top 1000 for the first time in 2022. Double As are trending across the states, such as Saanvi and Aarush, and Ivaan is running right along with them — all the way into the Top 1000 this past year in 2022.

An elaboration of Jaan, not quite as widely used in Estonia as the original. Jaan is the Estonian form of John.

Irish form of Johnny

Rather dated smoosh name.

A joyous, celebratory-sounding name.

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.