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Jian

Gender
Boy
Say it
JYEN
Origin
Chinese
UK rank, 2025
#5,065 for boys
US rank, 2025
#4,538 for boys

Jian is a boys' name of Chinese origin, meaning “strong, healthy; to build”. In 2025 it ranked 5,065th for boys in the UK (3 babies) and 4,538th for boys in the US (22 babies).

What does Jian mean?

Chinese: meaning depends on the Chinese character used

“strong, healthy; to build”

Common Chinese name element, often written 健 'healthy, strong' or 建 'to build, establish'.

Is Jian a girl's or a boy's name?

Jian is a boys' name. In 2025, it was given to 3 boys in the UK and 7 girls and 22 boys in the US.

How popular is Jian in the UK?

Rank in 2025
5,065th among boys
Babies in 2025
3 about 1 in 100,000 boys
Five-year trend
Falling down 29% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 3 boys in the UK were named Jian, making it the 5,065th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 4,025th. Its busiest year was 2009, with 9 boys.

2025 had fewer boys named Jian than any year since 2017.

Half of all the boys named Jian in the UK since 1996 were born between 2007 and 2020. It was already well used in 1996, when the records begin, so earlier boys aren't counted.

Among boys in 2025, it was 4,974th in England and Wales.

1996Busiest: 9 in 20092025
Jian in the UK, year by year
YearBoysRank
20253#5,065
20244#4,346
20235#3,712
20225#3,639
20218#2,619
20204#4,025
20196#3,184
20187#2,823
20170–
20163#5,015
20150–
20143#4,829
20134#4,008
20120–
20113#4,837
20106#3,092
20099#2,241
20087#2,616
20075#3,231
20065#3,013
20057#2,292
20044#3,147
20030–
20020–
20010–
20003#3,146
19990–
19980–
19970–
19963#2,949

How popular is Jian in the US?

Rank in 2025
4,538th among boys
Babies in 2025
22 about 1 in 78,000 boys
Five-year trend
Steady down 17% in five years
Same name in a class
under 1% chance among 15 boys

In 2025, 22 boys in the US were named Jian, making it the 4,538th most popular name for boys. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 5,231st. Its busiest year was 2022, with 29 boys. It first appears in the records in 1986. 7 girls were also named Jian in 2025 (11,928th for girls).

Half of all the boys named Jian in the US since 1880 were born between 2002 and 2018, the years shaded on the chart below.

1986Busiest: 29 in 20222025
Jian in the US, year by year
YearBoysRank
202522#4,538
202414#6,194
202319#5,070
202229#3,772
202124#4,243
202017#5,231
201925#4,110
201824#4,222
201721#4,590
201623#4,326
201518#5,056
201419#4,862
201321#4,461
201219#4,857
201111#7,002
201018#5,044
200921#4,580
200822#4,392
20079#8,169
200615#5,521
200519#4,459
200414#5,487
200323#3,727
200219#4,182
200112#5,660
200011#5,913
199910#6,036
199816#4,193
199718#3,733
19967#7,129
199511#5,118
19940–
19937#6,809
19927#6,662
19910–
199011#4,667
19898#5,608
19880–
19877#5,453
19869#4,453

Names like Jian

Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.

Names related to Jian

More Chinese names

Every Chinese name

Sources

Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.

To cite this page: Nameling, “Jian: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/jian, updated 20 October 2026.