Jean is a common

female Female ( symbol: ♀) is the sex of an organism that produces the large non-motile ova (egg cells), the type of gamete (sex cell) that fuses with the male gamete during sexual reproduction. A female has larger gametes than a male. Fema ...

given name in English-speaking countries. It is the Scottish form of

Jane Jane may refer to: * Jane (given name), a feminine given name * Jane (surname), related to the given name Film and television * Jane (1915 film), ''Jane'' (1915 film), a silent comedy film directed by Frank Lloyd * Jane (2016 film), ''Jane'' (20 ...

(and is sometimes pronounced that way). It is sometimes spelled Jeaine. It is the equivalent of Johanna, Joanna, Joanne, Jeanne, Jana, and Joan, and derives from the

Old French Old French (, , ; Modern French: ) was the language spoken in most of the northern half of France from approximately the 8th to the 14th centuries. Rather than a unified language, Old French was a linkage of Romance dialects, mutually intel ...

''Jehanne'', which is derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through ...

name ''

Johannes Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as " John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, '' Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' ...

'', itself from the

Koine Greek Koine Greek (; Koine el, ἡ κοινὴ διάλεκτος, hē koinè diálektos, the common dialect; ), also known as Hellenistic Greek, common Attic, the Alexandrian dialect, Biblical Greek or New Testament Greek, was the common supra-reg ...

name '' Ioannes'' (Ιωαννης), ultimately from the

Biblical Hebrew Biblical Hebrew (, or , ), also called Classical Hebrew, is an archaic form of the Hebrew language, a language in the Canaanite branch of Semitic languages spoken by the Israelites in the area known as the Land of Israel, roughly west of t ...

name ''

Yochanan Yohanan, Yochanan and Johanan are various transliterations to the Latin alphabet of the Hebrew male given name ('), a shortened form of ('), meaning "YHWH is gracious". The name is ancient, recorded as the name of Johanan, high priest of the Se ...

'' (יוֹחָנָן), a short form of the name ''Yehochanan'' (יְהוֹחָנָן), meaning " YHWH/

Yahweh Yahweh *''Yahwe'', was the national god of ancient Israel and Judah. The origins of his worship reach at least to the early Iron Age, and likely to the Late Bronze Age if not somewhat earlier, and in the oldest biblical literature he po ...

is Gracious". Famous people with the given name Jean:

Notable people

* Jean Acker (1893–1978), American silent film actress *

Jean Adam Jean Adam (or Adams) (30 April 1704 – 3 April 1765) was a Scottish poet from the labouring classes; her best-known work is "There's Nae Luck Aboot The Hoose". In 1734 she published a volume of her poetry entitled ''Miscellany poems'', but the ...

(1704–1765), Scottish poet and songwriter * Jean Adamson (born 1928), English children's writer and illustrator * Jean Alexander (1926–2016), English television actress * Jean Anderson (1907–2001), English actress *

Jean Appleton Jean Appleton (13 September 1911 – 11 June 2003) was an Australian painter, art teacher and printmaker. She worked with oils, watercolour, charcoal, pastel, pencil and India ink. The second of three children and an only daughter, Appleton did ...

(1911–2003), Australian painter, art teacher and printmaker * Jean Arthur (1900–1991), American actress * Jean M. Auel (born 1936), American writer * Jean Bartik (1924–2011), American computer programmer * Jean Batten (1909–1982), New Zealand aviator * Jean Boht (born 1932), English actress * Jean Briggs Watters (1925–2018), English cryptanalyst * Jean Byron (1925–2006), American actress * Jean Carn (born 1947), American jazz and pop singer * Jean Carroll (1911–2010), American actress and comedian * Jean Carroll (born 1980), Irish cricketer *

E. Jean Carroll Elizabeth Jean Carroll is an American journalist, author, and advice columnist. Her "Ask E. Jean" column appeared in ''Elle'' magazine from 1993 through 2019, becoming one of the longest-running advice columns in American publishing. In her 20 ...

(born 1943), American journalist and advice columnist * Jean Clemens (1880–1909), youngest daughter of writer Mark Twain * Jean Colin (1905–1989), English actress * Jean Conan Doyle (1912–1997), British Air Commandant *

Jean Coulthard Jean Coulthard, (February 10, 1908 – March 9, 2000) was a Canadian composer and music educator. She was one of a trio of women composers who dominated Western Canadian music in the twentieth century: Coulthard, Barbara Pentland, and Violet ...

(1908–2000), Canadian composer * Jean Danker (born 1978), Singaporean DJ, voiceover artist and actress * Jean Darling (1922–2015), American child actress * Jean Dunbabin (born 1939), British historian * Jean Donovan (1953–1980), American lay missionary who was murdered in El Salvador *

Jean Else Jean Else (born c. 1951) is an English former educator and head teacher, who garnered both acclaim and notoriety over the course of her long teaching career. Found guilty in 2006 of nepotism, financial mismanagement and making illegal payments to ...

(born 1951), disgraced British educator and the first person to have a Damehood revoked *

Jean Erdman Jean Erdman (February 20, 1916 – May 4, 2020) was an American dancer and choreographer of modern dance as well as an avant-garde theater director. Biography Early years and background Erdman was born in Honolulu. Erdman's father, John Piney ...

(born 1916), American dancer and choreographer *

Jean Fergusson Jean Fergusson (30 December 1944 – 14 November 2019) was a British television and theatre actress, who was best known for playing the part of Marina on the British situation comedy ''Last of the Summer Wine'' from 1985 until it was cancelled in ...

(1944–2019), British television and theatre actress *

Jean Fuller Jeannie Lynn "Jean" Fuller (née Guenther; born April 16, 1950) is an American educator and politician who served as the minority leader in the California State Senate. A Republican, she was previously a member of the California Assembly and the ...

(born 1950), American politician *

Jean Garcia Jessica Anne Rodriguez Maitim (born August 22, 1969), better known as Jean Garcia (), is a Filipino television and film actress, who hails from Angeles City. She is best known for her role as Madam Claudia Buenavista in the original version o ...

(born 1969), Filipino actress * Jean Craighead George (1919–2012), American author *

Jean D'Costa Jean Constance D'Costa (born 13 January 1937) is a Jamaican children's novelist, linguist, and professor emeritus. Her novels have been praised for their use of both Jamaican Creole and Standard English. Early life and education Jean Constance ...

(born 1937), Jamaican children's novelist * Jean Grae (born 1976), American hip hop artist * Jean Gordon, Countess of Bothwell (1546–1629), Scottish noblewoman *

Jean Brooks Greenleaf Jean Brooks Greenleaf (October 1, 1832 – March 2, 1918) was an American woman suffragist. With her death in 1918, there passed the last of a small group of devoted suffragists who received their first inspiration from Susan B. and Mary Anthony ...

(1832–1918), American woman suffragist * Jean Hagen (1923–1977), American actress * Jean Harlow (1911–1937), American actress * Jean Hartley (1933–2011), English autobiographer and publisher *

Jean Hepburn Jean Hepburn, Lady Darnley, Mistress of Caithness, Lady Morham (died 1599) was a Scottish noblewoman and a member of the Border clan of Hepburn. Her brother was James Hepburn, Earl of Bothwell, the third husband of Mary, Queen of Scots. Jean's ...

(died 1599), Scottish noblewoman *

Jean Horsley Jean Alice Horsley (15 February 1913 – 21 August 1997) was a New Zealand artist. Her work is held in the permanent collection of the Auckland City Art Gallery. Career Horsley attended the Elam School of Fine Art at the University of Auck ...

(1913–1997), New Zealand artist * Jean Houston (born 1937), American author * Jean Ingelow (1820–1897), an English poet and novelist *

Nikki Jean Nicholle "Nikki" Jean Leary is an American singer. After studying theatre, Jean began her career as the lead singer of the Philadelphia-based band Nouveau Riche. She began posting acoustic music online. Jean gained major recognition after bein ...

(born Nicholle Jean Leary) (born 1983), American singer-songwriter * Jean Kerr (1922–2003), American author and playwright * Jean Kent (1921−2013), British actress * Jean Knight (born 1943), American soul/R&B/funk singer * Jean Liedloff (1926–2011), American author *

Jean Madeira Jean Madeira, née Jean Browning (born November 14, 1918, in Centralia, Illinois; died on July 10, 1972, in Providence, Rhode Island) was an American contralto, particularly known for her work in late-romantic German repertoire such as the operas ...

(1918–1972), American mezzo-soprano * Jean Marsh (born 1934), English actress and screenwriter * Jean Muir (1928–1995), English fashion designer *

Jean Olson Lanjouw Jean Olson "Jenny" Lanjouw (April 15, 1962 – November 1, 2005) was an American economist, economics professor at Yale University and associate professor at the University of California, Berkeley's Department of Agricultural and Resource Econ ...

(1962–2005), American economist *

Jean Parker Jean Parker (born Lois May Green; August 11, 1915 – November 30, 2005) was an American film and stage actress. A native of Montana, indigent during the Great Depression, she was adopted by a family in Pasadena, California at age ten. She ...

(1915–2005), American actress * Jean Passanante (born 1953), American television screenwriter * Jean Peters (1926–2000), American actress *

Jean Prahm Jean Prahm (formerly Jean Racine, born September 20, 1978) is an American bobsledder who competed from 1996 to 2006. She won three medals in the two-woman event at the FIBT World Championships with two silvers (2000, 2001) and a bronze (2 ...

(born 1978), American bobsledder *

Jean Rabe Jean Rabe is an American journalist, editor, gamer and writer of fantasy and mystery. After a career as a newspaper reporter, she was employed by TSR, Inc. for several years as head of the Role Playing Game Association and editor of the ''Polyhe ...

(born 1957), American fantasy and sci-fi author and editor *

Jean Redpath Jean Redpath MBE (28 April 1937 – 21 August 2014) was a Scottish folk singer, educator and musician. Career Jean Redpath was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, to musical parents. Her mother knew many Scots songs and passed them on to Jean and her ...

(1937–2014), Scottish folk singer *

Jean Rhodes Jean E. Rhodes (born c. 1961) is an American psychologist and author. She is the Frank L. Boyden Professor of Psychology at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. She is the director of the Center for Evidence-Based Mentoring at the University ...

, American academic psychologist and author * Jean Rhys (1890–1979), Dominican novelist * Jean Ritchie (1922–2015), American folk singer and songwriter * Jean Rogers (1916–1991), American actress *

Jean Sagal Jean Sagal is an American television actress and director. In the 1980s, she co-starred with her twin sister Liz Sagal in the television series '' Double Trouble'' that ran from 1984–85. She has since appeared on such shows as ''Picket Fenc ...

(born 1961), American television actress and director *

Jean Saunders Jean Saunders, née Jean Innes (8 February 1932 – 3 August 2011) was a British writer of romance novels from 1974 to 2010. She wrote under her married and maiden names, and also under the pseudonyms of Rowena Summers, Sally Blake, and Rachel ...

(1932–2011), British writer of romance novels * Jean Schmidt (born 1951), American politician * Jean Seberg (1938–1979), American actress *

Jean Shafiroff Jean Shafiroff is an American philanthropist, author, advocate, and socialite. Serving on multiple national and regional philanthropic boards, she is the ambassador and spokesperson for American Humane , American Humane Feed the Hungry COVID-19 ...

(1933–2016), American philanthropist and socialite * Jean Shepard (1933–2016), American honky tonk singer-songwriter * Jean Shrimpton (born 1942), English model and actress *

Jean Simmons Jean Merilyn Simmons, (31 January 1929 – 22 January 2010) was a British actress and singer. One of J. Arthur Rank's "well-spoken young starlets", she appeared predominantly in films, beginning with those made in Great Britain during and aft ...

(1929–2010), English actress * Jean Smart (born 1951), American actress *

Jean Kennedy Smith Jean Ann Kennedy Smith (February 20, 1928June 17, 2020) was an American diplomat, activist, humanitarian, and author who served as United States Ambassador to Ireland from 1993 to 1998. She was a member of the Kennedy family, the eighth of nine ...

(born 1928), American diplomat * Jean Gurney Fine Spahr (1861-1935), American social reformer *

Jean Stafford Jean Stafford (July 1, 1915 – March 26, 1979) was an American short story writer and novelist. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction for '' The Collected Stories of Jean Stafford'' in 1970. Biography She was born in Covina, California, to M ...

(1915–1979), American short story writer and novelist * Jean Stapleton (1923–2013), American actress * Jean Stewart, several people * Jean Terrell (born 1944), American R&B and jazz singer * Jean Valentine (born 1934), American poet *

Jean Vander Pyl Jean Thurston Vander Pyl (October 11, 1919 – April 10, 1999) was an American voice actress. Although her career spanned many decades, she is best known as the voice of Wilma Flintstone for the Hanna-Barbera cartoon '' The Flintstones''. In ...

(1919–1999), American actress * Jean Webster, pseudonym for Alice Jane Chandler Webster (1876–1916), an American writer * Jean Westwood (born 1931), British ice dancer * Jean Westwood (1923–1997), a political figure born in Utah * Jean Willes (1923–1989), American film actress *

Jean R. Yawkey Jean Remington Yawkey (January 24, 1909 – February 26, 1992) was the wife of Tom Yawkey and owner of the Boston Red Sox from 1976 to her death in 1992. Biography Jean Yawkey was born Jean Hollander in Brooklyn, New York. She grew up in Freeport ...

(1909–1992), the wife of Tom Yawkey and owner of the Boston Red Sox

Fictional characters

* Jean, in the British sitcom '' dinnerladies'' * Jean Brodie, in the novella and film ''The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie'' * Jean DeWolff, in the comic Spider-Man * Jean Louise "Scout" Finch, narrator of the novel ''To Kill a Mockingbird'' * Jean Grey, in Marvel comics. An omega-level mutant with extremely powerful empathic, telepathic and telekinetic abilities. She is host of the almighty Phoenix Force entity *Jean Randolph, an alternate personality of Victoria Lord on the American soap opera '' One Life to Live'' *Jean Warboys, in the British sitcom '' One Foot in the Grave'' *Jean Hawkins, the deceased wife of Robert Hawkins and late mother of Sharon and Virgil in '' Static Shock'' *Jean Nesbitt, sister of the protagonist from the TV

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

'' Barbara'', portrayed by

Sherrie Hewson Sherrie Lynn Hutchinson (born 17 September 1950) is an English actress, television personality and novelist. She is known for her roles as Maureen Holdsworth in '' Coronation Street'' (1993–1997, 2006), Virginia Raven in '' Crossroads'' (2001 ...

Jean Slater Jean Slater (also Walters) is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera, ''EastEnders'', played by Gillian Wright. Her first appearance is in the episode first broadcast in the United Kingdom on 16 December 2004. Having only been introduced ...

, in the TV soap opera '' EastEnders'', portrayed by Gillian Wright *Jean Abbott, wife of Sid James's character in the TV sitcom '' Bless This House'', portrayed by Diana Coupland *Jean Gunnhildr (), a playable Anemo character in the video game '' Genshin Impact''

Notable people

Fictional characters

See also