The Baby Name Wizard

Reader Contributions

Contribute to, or edit, this collection of community wisdom on the name Jane!

Comments and insights on the name Jane: | Edit

Jane originally came about as an 16th century aristocratic alternative to the more commonplace Joan.

Personal experiences with the name Jane: | Edit

My name is Jane and I found it plain and unimaginative when I was younger, but now I feel it to be more classic, elegant and timeless than any of the names I once lobbied my parents to change it to! I have met a few people who love my name, and want to call their daughter Jane (usually inspired by Jane Eyre) but mostly it goes without comment. The thing I like is that no one mis-spells it or mispronounces it. And no one seems to really hate it. I meet many people who have Jane as their middle name. I never got teased about my name, and all in all I'm happy to have it.

I am named Jane and have often asked my parents why they would chose a name synonmous with being ordinary, or completely anonymous. The long list of things I have been called...Plain Jane, Insane Jane, Jane of the Jungle, Jane Doe, and once I was grown up, men used my name as a way to hit on my while I was a bartender, as in "Hey Jane, where's Dick?" or "Hey, me Tarzan, you Jane."

Jane is a beautiful, old name. Its meaning is wonderful. Some people associate it with strong figures like Lady Jane or Jane Fonda, but it's mostly older people who do. Despite this, I wish it wasn't my name. I wish I was called something more interesting. I couldn't even get an interesting nickname out of it, except for Janey, which sounds childish. I think Jane is one of the best middle names you can have, and it works in second place. It compliments a more interesting first name.

Nicknames for Jane: | Edit

Janie, Jenny, Janet

Meanings and history of the name Jane: | Edit

Jane means "God's grace" or "God is gracious" in Hebrew.

Famous real-life people named Jane: | Edit

Jane Addams, American social activist and Nobel Peace Prize winner
Jane Austen, British novelist
Jane Fonda, American actress and anti-war activist
Jane Goodall, British primatologist
Jane Seymour, third wife of Henry VIII and Queen of England (1536-7)
Jane (Joyce Frankenberg) Seymour, British actress
Jane Asher, actress
Jane Powell, actress
Jane Wyman, actress
Jayne Mansfield, actress
Jane Krakowski, actress of 30 ROCK fame
Jane Russell, actress
Jane Birken, singer/actress
Jane Wiedlin, singer
Jane Alexander, actress
Jane Yolen, children's author and poet
Lady Jane Grey, Queen for nine days during the Tudor period in England.

Jane in song, story & screen: | Edit

Hazy Jane - Nick Drake
Jane Bennet, the eldest in 's and Prejudice
Jane Eyre, in Brontë's book by the same name
Miss Jane Marple, an elderly spinster detective in a series of novels by Agatha Christie
Jane Porter, the eventual wife of Tarzan in Edgar Rice Burrough's Tarzan novels and the many film adaptations
Lady Jane and Mary Jane are slang terms for marijuana.
Jane Doe and Jane Q. Public both refer to typical representatives of the general public, or a specific anonymous person.
Jane Stuart, main character in Lucy Maud Montgomery's 1936 novel, "Jane of Lantern Hill."
"Baby Jane" is a song by Rod Stewart.
"Jane Says" is a song released in 1987 by the band Jane's Addiction.
What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?, early 1960s thriller starring Bette Davis and Joan Crawford
Breaking Benjamin's song "Diary of Jane"