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How about Janis?

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What do you think?

I always think Jan as a boy's name, because it was my Dutch grandfather's name. It's pronounced YAHN. I prefer it on a boy but I'm not a huge fan, just because it's a little simplistic and boring to me. Also, Jan is one of the most consistently popular boy's names in the Netherlands. Just to let you know. :)

Where I'm from (the Netherlands) it's a normal boys name. I always get confused when I see it as a girls name.
In Dutch it would be pronounced like Yahn.

I'd pronounce it either like the beginning of the name Janet or Yon. Either way, I dislike the name.

I went to school with a boy named Jan, pronounced like Janet without the -et. I don't know whether it caused him any problems. All I know is that I liked him a lot, and so did a lot of other girls.

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I don't like the name pronounced with a Y sound.

One of my teachers had a son named Jan; they pronounced it "yawn". no one thought anything of it, despite the fact that it was a bit unusual for an American kid. I guess he was born in Germany.

Jan is really nice name for a boy. I like it. Pronounced yahn. Jan´s nicknames are Janek, Janko, Janik, Janis, Jenda, Jenya.

i think it doesnt work at alllll.

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my boyfirends initials are JAN and my brother always calls him that to piss him off.

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too girly for usage by a guy when pronounced like the first syllable of janet.

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and unappealing to me when pronounced yahn

This message was edited 8/19/2009, 7:27 AM

I don't like it. But it's my grandfather's FN (he's dead though) and one of my brother's middlename. I prn it JAHN/YAHN

This message was edited 8/19/2009, 6:42 AM

My friend in Germany has a boyfriend named Jan, i'm pretty sure it's pronounced 'Yahn'

I love Jan on a boy. It's a form of John, so definitely masculine. You just have to pronounce it YAN and not JAN like the girl's name.

In a lot of cultures it's a male name. I'm inclined to pronounce it "Yan".

I prefer Yan.

Secretly, I like Jan for a boy, pronounced Jan. I didn't know that it was pronounced with a Y instead of a J the first time I encountered it, lol. And I thought, "Jan? For a boy? Neat!"

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But I wouldn't use it. As fun as it is, its not worth the confusion in an English speaking country, imo.

I only know this name for boys!!! That's why i could not imagine a girl with this name...

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I pronounced it the German way: "YAHN"

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It is currently #16 in the German Top 100

I'm not a fan of it for either.

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I wouldn't use it for a boy here in the U.S. because he might get teased about having a girl's name. ANd like someone else said, he'll keep getting put into the girl's P.E. classes.

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I say it like the first part in January.

I knew a male Jan. He was my sister's second husband. They divorced twenty-four years ago, and I haven't seen him since that time.

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His name was pronounced like the first syllable of Janet. The story he told was that his parents, for some reason (this was long before sonograms) were convinced that they were going to have a girl, and were planning to name her Janet after a relative, and when he came along instead, they named him Jan.

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He said that the only real problem his name ever caused was when he was in school. At the beginning of every year, he would be put into a girls' gym class, show up, and be sent to the boys' gym class.

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Jan, pronounced like the first syllable of Janet, isn't all that feminine, yet it seems too feminine for a boy, in my opinion. But I really don't like the YON pronunciation, either.

I knew a boy named Jan, pronounced yahn.

Probably one of the most common names here (the Netherlands), although it's getting less popular. It's YAHN for me.