Names/J

Janelle

girls’ nameFallingCompare

Janelle is ranked 776th among girls in 2024 (362 births). Its best rank was 186th, in 1978–1979.

Rank in 2024
#776down 83 from 2023
Births in 2024
3620.02% of girls
Peak year
19791,416 births
Best rank
#186first in 1978
Since 1912
56,537people given the name
Babies named Janelle, by year of birthgirls
05001k1.5k2k18801900192019401960198020002020

The story in the numbers

56,537 girls have been named Janelle in the United States since 1912, according to Social Security records. The busiest single year was 1979, with 1,416 births.

It is falling: its share of births is 60% or less of what it was ten years ago (rank 451 → 776).

Half of everyone given the name was born by 1986, and the 1980s alone account for 22%. It has spent 94 of 145 years in the top 1,000.

Rank among girls, year by year

Higher on the chart = more popularrank (gaps = outside the top 1,000)
#1#250#500#750#100018801900192019401960198020002020

By decade

Decadegirls named Janelle
1910s84
1920s280
1930s857
1940s1,499
1950s3,528
1960s5,025
1970s8,439
1980s12,571
1990s8,488
2000s6,773
2010s6,906
2020s2,087

In 1979, its biggest year

Janelle was the 186th most given girl’s name that year. The top five girls’ names of 1979 were Jennifer, Melissa, Amanda, Jessica and Amy. See all of 1979.

Names that rose and fell with Janelle

Same sex, most similar popularity curve over 145 years, in five-year steps — the shape of the line, not the size.

Other spellings in the data

What this page does not tell you. The Social Security data records how many babies were given a name, not what the name means or where it comes from — so neither do we. Counts cover people with a Social Security number; names given to fewer than five babies in a year are withheld. More on the data.