Jovan

Where Jovan comes from

Jovan hasn't made it into the dictionaries we draw on, and nobody well known enough for an encyclopedia has carried it yet — so for now its story is the one the SSA record tells. Names that spell a familiar sound a new way often live here for a while before anyone writes them down.

Along the way
  1. 1833
    Jovan Jovanović Zmaj born
    Serbian poet, physician
  2. 1871
    Jovan Dučić born
    Bosnian Serb writer and diplomat
  3. 1966
    First appearance
    #3,537 among boys, 6 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  4. 1979
    Peak, #554
    240 babies named Jovan — more than any year before or since.
  5. 2018
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #1,617.
In the dictionary

No dictionary entry for this spelling — which is its own kind of rare.

Namesakes
  • Jovan Dučić · Bosnian Serb writer and diplomat, 1871–1943
  • Jovan Jovanović Zmaj · Serbian poet, physician, 1833–1904
  • Jovan Cvijić · Serbian scientist, 1865–1927
  • Jovan Vladimir · Serbian prince of Duklja, Serbian Orthodox Christian saint, 990–1016
  • Jovan Mijatović · Serbian association football player, born 2005

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.