Joan (first name)

Joan of Arc was largely responsible for the popularity of the name Joan for girls in the English-speaking world in recent years.
Gender	female, sometimes male
Meaning	The Lord is merciful
Related names	Joanna, Joanne

Joan is mainly a female name in the English language, but is a male name in Catalan, Occitan, and Dutch. It is related to the names John, Jane, Jean, Jeanne, Johan, Joanna, Juan, João, Ivana, Jovan, Jovana, Ioan, Ioana, Jan, Jann, Yanne, Jouan, Ioan, and Siobhán.

The English female name is an English form of the Old French name Johanne, a female variant of the male name Johannes. The name ultimately derives from the Biblical Hebrew name יוחנן Yôḥānān, short for יהוחנן Yəhôḥānān, meaning "Yahweh is merciful". People and fictional characters named Joan include: