January

Where January comes from

From Middle English Januarie, januari, re-latinised forms of Middle English Janevere, Ieneuer, from Anglo-Norman genever, from Latin Iānuārius (“(month) of Janus”), a compound of Iānus ("Janus") + -ārius (adjectival suffix), with the first element perhaps from the Proto-Indo-European root *yeh₂- (“to go”). Doublet of Gennaro.
— Wiktionary's entry for January
  • 3 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Along the way
  1. 1797
    January Suchodolski born
    Polish artist
  2. 1951
    First appearance
    #4,385 among girls, 7 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1978
    January Jones born
    American actress
  4. 1978
    Peak, #638
    257 babies named January — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1980
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,117.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name transferred from the month name [in turn from English].
Namesakes
  • January Jones · American actress, born 1978
  • January Suchodolski · Polish artist, 1797–1875
  • January Makamba · Tanzanian politician, born 1974
  • January Zyambo · Zambian footballer, born 1980
  • January Bień · Polish politician, 1943–2021

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.