He looks like a nouveau coinage, but his roots are Biblical.
Thanks to Urban Angel for suggesting Javan as Baby Name of the Day.
You won’t find Javan in the US Top 1000, but look a little closer and you’ll meet his cousins:
- Javon, #447
- Javion, #573
- Jovan, #891
- Jayvon, #950
- Jayvion, #977
Other variants, like Jevon, have been spotted, too.
Sereh says
May 10, 2010 at 6:24 PMI love the name Javan. That’s why we decided to bless our boy with the name Javan (who is now almost 15 months old). We chose it because it wasn’t a very common name but still has biblical roots. Who wants the same boring name that thousands and thousands of other people have? Why not be unique?!
We get so many comments about our sons name saying what a nice name it is, and we’re so happy we chose it.
Growing up with a different name myself, I sometimes didn’t like having to correct people with how to pronounce my name, but now being older, I LOVE having a name different to the norm!!! I may have to correct people, but they usually remember from then on.
Javan (we pronounce it JAY-vin/JAY-vun) is a wonderfully different name.
Charlotte Vera says
April 22, 2010 at 3:44 AMTo me, this name looks like an attractive Indian name — I quite like it! Of course, I’d never use it, but I would suggest it to others. When I see the name, I pronounce it “JAH-vuhn” in my mind.
JNE says
April 21, 2010 at 3:56 PMI didn’t know how to pronounce it… honestly, I still don’t. For me, that’s a big drawback to a name. The upside is, it’s fairly simple to spell (unlike some of those lovely Irish names) and people will likely ‘learn’ the way you want it pronounced quickly, once they are told. But, because it looks deceptively simple, I’m betting most people will just say it however it first comes to them and slaughter it thoroughly. In my mind I vacillated between JAW van (picture a shark-motif van here) and JAH vin (as in, something that is from Java). This issue, along with not being all that turned on by Biblical names, kind of sinks it for me.
British American says
April 21, 2010 at 3:32 PMI agree – wouldn’t have known this was a Biblical name and so if I met a child with this name, I would think it was some kind of Jayden spin-off.
It would be kind of cool to be able to correct people and be like “No, it’s a Biblical name!” Though most people probably wouldn’t ask and just assume you made it up. :/
British American says
April 21, 2010 at 3:34 PMOh and it was making me think of the villain in the Aladdin movie. I had to look that up to check, but he was Jafar.
Joy says
April 21, 2010 at 6:57 PMJafar! What an adorable name. I bet Abby will do a profile on it!! [JK ;P]
Joy says
April 21, 2010 at 3:00 PMI would not pronounce this like the J in Joy, more like zshuh-VON close to Siobhan.
This is another sci-fi name to me, and it’s too close to the dated names Kevin and Devon. Also, I know it’s an actual biblical name, but because it’s so rare, it just seems like a mash-up/made-up name.
UrbanAngel says
April 21, 2010 at 8:41 AMThanks for doing this as NOTD! The only Javan I’ve come across in real life was Indian, while I know a white couple who were also considering it. I think the ”Ja”-van part put them off. ‘ja’ means ”yes” in Afrikaans, so it was ‘Yes-Van’. I say it more as JAY -ven.Out of those pronunciations, I’d lean more towards JAY-vohn.
I think where I live it’ll be a choice more popular amidst the Indian community. I do like the sound, but I don’t like it enough to use or to consider on a child.I actually do like the sound of Jadon as well, but I feel the same way about it as Javan.In terms of the US, I think it falls under the Jayden/Braedon category which might put some people off. Where I live, it’s just a name lol, so the whole ‘tryndee’ thing doesn’t bother me at all.
Overall, I do like the sound, but not enough to use. FABULOUS post! I had NO idea that it had so much history.
appellationmountain says
April 21, 2010 at 12:53 PMThanks, UrbanAngel. I actually think there must be an Indian name Javan, too – it turned up in a few of my searches. But it doesn’t seem very common, or maybe I’m missing something.
I have new neighbors from India, but I can’t quite bring myself to knock on their door and ask them to explain EVERYTHING about baby naming. Maybe I should bake some banana bread and walk it over …
UrbanAngel says
April 21, 2010 at 1:03 PMI like banana bread……. 😉
Sebastiane says
April 21, 2010 at 8:25 AMJavan looks very trendy to me. I could definitely see it get popular, on the heels of Jaden and Jason.