MEANING & HISTORY
What does Joanna mean?
Joanna comes through Latin Joanna and Greek Ioanna from a feminine Hebrew form related to Yohanan. The conventional meaning is God is gracious.
A woman named Joanna appears in the New Testament, adding a specific biblical association to the name’s transmission. Joanna, Johanna and Juana belong to the same broad family while retaining their own language forms and exact spellings.
References for this explanation
Pronunciation & syllables
Dictionary readings are kept by language. Select the reading that matches your intended pronunciation. Dots show the source’s written divisions; they are not a universal syllable count across languages.
Wiktionary contributors / Kaikki / Wiktextract · CC BY-SA 4.0
Origin and name formation
Language-specific accounts from the dictionary. A shared spelling can have more than one history.
EnglishEtymology & source
From Latin Joanna, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννα (Iōánna), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָה (Yôḥānāh, literally “God is gracious”), the feminized form of יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān) which produced John and its many doublets. Doublet of Ivana, Jana, Jane, Janice, Janis, Jean, Jeanne, Jen, Joan, Joanne, Johanna, Juana, Shavonne, Sian, Siobhan, Shane, Shaun, Shauna, and Sheena.
A female given name from Latin [in turn from Hebrew].
Wiktionary: Joanna (English) ↗ · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
Adapted from Wiktionary contributors via Kaikki/Wiktextract. Source accounts remain in their original English; editorial summaries and filters are adapted. Attribution and downloads
People with the name Joanna
Public figures and other documented namesakes linked by an explicit given-name claim. This is a selection of records, not a popularity ranking.
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Joanna Ampil
Musical theatre actress from the Philippines
DOCUMENTED NAMESAKE
Joanna Bacalso
actress
The record establishes the name association, not the person’s intended meaning, pronunciation or ancestry. Descriptions are attributed to Wikidata contributors (CC0).
Use in Philippine-linked records
Wikidata
4
distinct person records with an explicit given-name claim
Community-edited coverage, not a census or birth registry. Examples: Joanna Bacalso, Joanna Ampil
PSA · OFFICIAL BIRTH RECORDS
Joanna in the birth records
Exact spelling and stated year in the published name tables. Read the counts as individual snapshots.
Tables included: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024. The 2016 fact sheet lists five names per sex; the later tables include ten. Missing counts are not inferred. Sex categories follow the official tables, independently of dictionary gender labels. Explore the official tables →
Similar names to Joanna
Names with a similar opening or ending, ordered by spelling distance. Similar spelling does not imply the same meaning or origin.
Names in this collection
- Janna♀Jane-family form, associated with divine grace
- Jeanna·Jean or Gina variant; independent Swedish Jeanne form
- Joana♀Portuguese and Catalan feminine John-family form
- Joanne♀Joanna-family form; God is gracious
- Johanna♀God is gracious
- Anna♀Grace or favour
- Ayanna♀Name listed as beautiful flower in a 1970 collection
- Donna♀Lady or woman, from Italian
What rhymes with Joanna?
Matches share a dictionary-supplied rhyme key in the stated language. Check the recorded reading; another language or accent can change the rhyme.
Explore Joanna further
Follow the sources
- Wikidata given-name item Q4248351 — Joanna (opens in a new tab)
Given-name identity, native labels, language associations and explicit class where present; not lexical meaning or population frequency.
- Wikidata — Joanna Bacalso (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q4248351 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wikidata — Joanna Ampil (opens in a new tab)
Explicit given-name claim P735 linking to Q4248351 and citizenship claim P27 linking to Philippines Q928; community-edited evidence, not a civil-registry record.
- Wiktionary contributors — Joanna (English) (opens in a new tab)
Language-specific given-name etymology; shared spelling does not prove every bearer has this origin.
- Wiktionary: Joanna (opens in a new tab)
Personal-name formation and etymological relationships; imported dictionary account consulted.