Hi Swistle,
I’ve been reading your blog for several months now and I love it. My question is this.
I have a baby sister whose name is Jana. It took my parents ages to come up with a name. She was un-named for several days as my parents and my family tried to come up with one!
Anyway, I was wondering, what is the correct pronunciation for her first name, Jana?
We pronounce it like Janna (rhymes with Anna). We have, however, run into lots of people who try to call her Yana (I think this is the middle eastern pronunciation??), Jah-na, and even Jane-a!
So, how would you pronounce it? I don’t really mind what the ‘correct’ pronunciation is, I am just curious as to how you and your readers would say it.
Thanks awfully!
As with many names, the name Jana has more than one familiar pronunciation. The question “What is the correct pronunciation?” would be answered in this case with “It rhymes with Anna”—because that is the pronunciation the parents have decided to go with.
A similar name is Lucia. It can correctly be pronounced loo-SEE-ah, loo-CHEE-ah, or LOO-sha. Another is Helena: heh-LAY-na, HEH-leh-nah, heh-LEE-nah.
Part of the package deal of a name with multiple pronunciations is that the pronunciation will regularly need to be clarified and corrected. Names with multiple spellings are similar: parents who choose the name Annabel are signing on for the task of saying “two N’s, one L”—and for being patient when they need to correct it on class lists, forms, etc., or when they see it spelled wrong on party invitations, valentines, and letters.
One of my own preferences is to have a quick and easy way to clarify/correct. In your little sister’s case, you have a great one: “rhymes with Anna” is quick, easy, and clear for spoken clarifications. In writing, it would be unclear whether Anna was pronounced ANN-ah or AH-na, so I might go with something like “Like the name Jan, but with an -a on the end.” Or “Like the ‘a’ in ‘apple’.”
If I saw the name Jana on a class list, I would know right away that it could be pronounced several different ways. The first pronunciation that comes to mind is YAH-na (my ancestry is mostly Dutch and German, so Jan-pronounced-Yahn and Jana-pronounced YAH-na are familiar family-tree names), but my first actual guess would be the rhymes-with-Anna version. I would probably say, “JAN-ah, YAH-nah, JAH-nah?” to cover my bases when saying it for the first time. I don’t think I’d guess JAY-nah, but I wouldn’t be surprised if that turned out to be the answer. Worldwide, my guess is that YAH-nah is the most common (the Forvo listing is made up almost entirely of YAH-nahs); in the United States, my guess it that JAN-ah is the most common—but the Social Security name lists don’t deal with pronunciation at all, so that’s purely a guess.
If I saw the name Jana on a class list I would never guess that it was pronounced any other way than they way your sister pronounces it. I suppose if I knew for sure that the family was some sort of ethnicity other than white, english speaking American I would probably hesitate and wonder about the Yah-na pronunciation.
I suppose I shouldn’t say I would *never* guess it was pronounced differently. The rhymes-with-Anna pronunciation would definitely be my go to, though, unless I had specific reasons to think it would be pronounced otherwise, like knowing one or both parents were from a different country, or that their was a family ancestry from somewhere with Js pronounced differently.
Haha, why can’t we edit these, lol? *There
I was born in the United States and so were both my parents. My name is Jana (JAY’-na), sounds like Dana. Otherwise, Janna should be spelled like Anna. Less confusing to strangers reading the name.
Yes! I agree as my name is also Jana and pronounced JAY-na. But most people throughout my life pronounce it like Anna or Hannah, instead of like Dana. Some years ago,I grew tired of correcting people and started going by Jane.
Me too! I’m a Jay-na and I just introduce myself as jane now. I considered just changing the spelling to Jayna, but I like Jane. I’ve also considered just full on going by Yana
I say it Jana as in Anna and have never heard it pronounced any other way.
I’ve only been called “Yah-na” once in my life, which is remarkable considering the number of people of German and Czech ancestry who live in my area of Texas. Most people automatically use the rhymes-with-Anna pronunciation (which is what I go by), but I have had a few use the pronunciation Jay-na.
I’ve met a handful of other ladies with my name over the years and only one has used the Yah-na pronunciation; the rest have been rhymes-with-Anna.
I go immediately to yah-na, and would never even guess that it could be j-Anna.
You learn something new every day!
I knew a Jana at school and she pronounced it YAH-nah and I met another in the UK who also pronounced it YAH-nah – she was, however, Eastern European. Therefore, my instinct is to pronounce it YAH-nah.
Jana soft g and rhymes with Hannah would be my first guess. Jay nah would be my second and Yahna would be my third
I went to school with a Jana who pronounced it Jah-nah, like rhymes with the Anna from Frozen.
My name is Jana and my family pronounces it as Jan-nah or as I usually tell people it’s pronounced like
John-ah or like Donna with a J. I’m American but I think my mom got it from someone European. I have people correct me all the time!
If the person were American, my first guess would be Anna-with-a-J. If from anywhere else in the world I would guess Yah-na. I only ever know one Jana and she was German, so she was Yah-na.
I have a friend who was born/raised in Sweden and moved here when she was 18. Her name is /jana, pronounced Yah-na.
oops… made a typo, her name is spelled Jana.
I would pronounce it Janna (rhymes with Anna), second choice would be Yah-na, and third John-ah.
I’m a teacher and if a Jana were on my class list, I’d first guess “yah-na”– this is the pronunciation in much of eastern Europe. Since Frozen, “Anna” is “ah-nah” to a lot of people, so that’s not even helpful. I wouldn’t be surprised to be corrected to “Jan-uh” (Jan like Brady Bunch); I’d just be thrown off.
Most names will have issues, so I wouldn’t worry about it! It’s a lovely name! Swistle gives great advice to have a go-to mnemonic to instruct people in how you want it pronounced.
I always pronounce it as Jan – a in my head. If I had reason to believe the family was European, I would think Yan – ah.
I must admit I prefer the the Jane-ah sound but if I were to name someone that, I would go with the spelling .. Jayna.
I’m originally from Germany, where Jana (pronounced YAH-nah) is very popular. I grew up knowing probably 5-10 Janas!
In the US, I’ve only once met a Jana and she turned out to be originally from the Czech Republic. I pronounced her name YAH-nah, which made her very happy, as most people here apparently pronounce it Jana-rhymes-with Anna, which is incorrect in her case.
So based on those experiences, if I met a Jana or saw the name on a list, I’d assume that there’s at least some European ancestry going on, and I’d be surprised if there wasn’t.
I have only ever known Jana pronounced as YAH-na so that is the one I would automatically go for. I have actually never heard it pronounced as J-anna.
If it’s an annoying issue for your parents maybe they should consider adding the extra ‘n’ to your sister’s name, as visually, I think Janna would be less likely to be ‘mispronounced’.
Otherwise, I say just leave it as is. A simple, one off, correction is all it normally takes to set people on the right track!
Jana is a lovely name!
All the best!
This is the time I wish we could have polls!
But I would always say J-anna in America.
Also, the increasing popularity of Jana Duggar makes me think more people would say it like that as well.
I know a “Jane-ah” spelled Jayna. And a “John-ah” spelled Jonna.
I would pronounce it like Anna with a J. Years ago I had a friend named Jana and that’s how she pronounced hers.
i know a Jana who pronounces it as Jay-na.
That’s right, Roomie! JAY’-na!
:)
I have a cousin by marriage that pronounces her name “JANN-a”, spelled Jana. If not for her, though, I can’t say that would be my go-to pronunciation. Because I would expect that pronunciation to be spelled “Janna”, I would have gone with “JAYN-a” or “JAHN-a” as my guess.
Jana like Anna. I’ve never heard it any other way but I can understand John-uh.
I’m Jana (JAY’-na), like Dana.
I would go with Yah – na
I would have guessed Jana to be pronounced like JANE-uh, sort of like I would pronounce Jada. But I’m not at all surprised by Jana-rhymes-with-Anna. I think it’s an easy pronunciation for people to get used to. I have known only one Jana, and she pronounced her name YAWN-uh, but I would not guess that pronunciation.
In Australia we have two famous Janas – a reporter named Jana Wendt and athlete Jana Pittman. They both pronounce their name Yah-nah so that would be what I would think if I saw a Jana on paper.
Yep, another Australin here and I didn’t realise there was another option other than yah-na.
I’ve known one Jana and she pronounced it like Anna. So that’s what I would say if I read it, but it would be easy to correct myself if it turned out I had gotten it wrong.
I would say JAN-ah. Like Jan, but then with a short ‘a’ sound at the end. Rhymes with Anna, unless you say Anna like in the Frozen movie.
I’ve only heard it pronounced rhyming with Anna. Jan-uh :)
I just came across this conversation…my first name is Jana.
I’m currently in the United states…And I’ve experienced my name being misspelled every time…so: it’s : ya-nah.
There’s a version that rhymes with Anna: Janna.
Even though I’m a bit late,I hope I could help you.
My name is Jana and I was born and raised in California. My name is pronounced like “Anna” but all of my life people (who don’t know me) have called me Jayna. I figure that they think it’s like the name Dana. Once I tried adding an extra ‘N and ended up being called Joanna. Other times I’ve been called Jenna, which I prefer over Jayna. It’s frustrating to have to correct people all the time.
I’m Jana (JAY’na). It is a very frustrating spelling. There should be no “Jana.” Either “Jayna” or “Jannah” (like Hannah).
As a fellow Jana, yes. My mom and I have gotten in a lot of fights about it. I would never name my child something that could be mispronounced so much… especially if the mispronounciation is terrible. I HATE the name Janna. So ugly. I just go by Jane at this point
I named my daughter Jana Lee, but we pronounce it Jay-na. I didn’t like the y in the middle of the name but didn’t really consider because my name is January, everyone would call her Jan-a. So most of the time, it gets pronounced as Jan-a in my experiences. If I had it to do over again, I would still spell it the same way. To many names these days get a y thrown in the middle of them for no good reason but to be different.
As a side note, Jana was born in June. My husband wanted to name her January still, which was a no-go with me. My birthday is New Years Eve at least. I didn’t really like the name June. If she was born closer to January I might have named her Winter though. We wanted a name that began with a J. My choice was Jolie Marie, but my husband wasn’t to keen on it.
My name is Jana (JAY’-na). I’m so tired of being called the incorrect name. I really wish my mom had thrown a “y” in the middle. I also know a Jaina. She has been called Janine.
I am Jana (Rhymes with Anna) my grandpa how ever called me “Yah-na” my entire life. There for my daughter’s name is Yana (yah-an). We spelled it with a Y as to not to confuse our names.
I was named after my grand, who in America was called John but his birth name was Johannes (Yo-Hahn- Esh) thus my Mom stuck a beautiful but confusing H right in the middle, so I am Jahna. Which in California rhymes with Banana. I’m called jayBee, jahnaBanana, beeNaners… my parents called me Jan. I became aware of the Yahna pronounciation in my late 20’s and was told it’s the Norwegian way. AND! I was in Paris at St. Michel when I met a Norwegian gal called Jahna who is a Yahna! I was so tickled I had my picture taken w her!
I’ll turn 60 this year, so most of my life I’m the only Jahna in my peer group or there’s maybe one more -a Jana usually- so it’s always been a somewhat unusual name and I really like that part. Now it seems -as I write this in 2021- there are more and more of us, usually spoken Jana, and in all walks of life. An astrophysist (!!), a country singer, an althlete, an actress. I guess familiarization lends to more people saying it right, but I sort of miss the exclusivity. My daughter thinks I’m the only Earthling with my whole name, especially when I can get it as an email address. And, ya know, I am TOTALLY down with that possibility. We are unique, we Jana Jahna Janna’s, no matter HOW you say it…
PEACE!