Janice is a 20th-century elaboration of Jane, the English feminine of John, and so means "God is gracious" or "Yahweh is gracious". It was launched by Paul Leicester Ford's 1899 novel Janice Meredith and became a staple name of the 1940s and 1950s; singer Janis Joplin bore the alternative spelling. Janice stood at number 744 in 2000, left the top 1000 shortly afterwards and ranks number 2522 among girls' names in 2025.