Comments for the name Jo

In Louisa May Alcott's novel Little Women, there is a famous Josephine, Jo.

Jo Van Fleet was an American theater and film actress. Jo has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contribution to motion pictures.

"Jo" reminds me of some big girl, blunt and rash, sort of foolish, although my given name is "Jo" (In Chinese "Qiao"). :(

Jo is sometimes used as a nickname for J.K Rowling. I shouldn't have to tell you what she wrote.

I prefer J-o-e if this name is going to be used for a boy.

Singer Janet Jackson's full name is Janet Damita Jo Jackson.

Also short for Josephine or Joanna.

Hello! Jo Frost is like the most famous bearer of this name! I'm surprised nobody noted Super Nanny on here!

Jo O'Meara - an ex-member of popular band S Club 7 (later just S Club). She was involved with the Racism Row on Celebrity Big Brother in 2007.

A bit short, sort of raging and easily disturbed. It requires a long supportive middle name.

This is far too minimalist and youthful. I have to say that I have never heard or read about a guy who spells his nickname Jo. Girls and women spell it Jo, guys go by Joe. So, I'd say this spelling looks a bit feminine for guys.

This name is also used for females in Dutch and Limburgish, where it can not only be a short form of the names already mentioned in the description, but also of Marjolein.

But, this name is also often used on males, both in Dutch and Limburgish. In those cases, the name is often a short form of Johannes and Joseph. In a way, think of it as the Dutch and Limburgish form of the all-American name Joe.

Nice as a nickname, bad as a legal name.

Jo Koy is a comedian. I think Jo is short for Joseph.

Surprised no one has cited LITTLE WOMEN as a source of this (nick)name's popularity. For show biz examples, there was not only actress Jo Van Fleet, but popular singer Jo Stafford.

It seems much more popular as an element in "combination names" (Mary Jo, Jo Ann, Billie Jo, etc.) than as a stand-alone. When it IS used by itself, it's probably assumed to be a nickname. "Jo Ann," by the way, may be perceived either as a combo name OR an alternative spelling of "Joanne"--which is one of many feminine forms of John and not a combination name (strictly speaking, although even that could be interpreted as such)

The use of the "Jo" spelling for males is--as others have noted--not uncommon in non-English speaking countries. I'm not sure they'd "get" the distinction, especially when you consider that in French, say, the addition of an "e" to a name is nearly ALWAYS a feminine marker (Rene vs. Renee, for example). The English Joe/Jo is the opposite of this pattern, and would likely confuse many. (Check out the French film WAGES OF FEAR, for an example of a masculine "Jo").

But, of course, in English speaking countries, the two letter spelling for a male would be very rare indeed.

This would appear to follow a pattern where a variant spelling is considered the more FEMININE spelling, no matter whether it is actually shorter than the male version. In that it is not totally different from "Leigh," or "Dayle" or "Jaye," (although in terms of the actual spelling, the last example follows the opposite pattern--it is, however, variant, and that seems to make all the difference.)

I love this name! It's become one of my (many and various) nicknames, after a character I play. The only thing is, her name is just "Jo", not short for anything. Naming someone outright with a name that's usually a nickname is probably a bad idea, in retrospect; you have to spend a lot of time afterwards constantly explaining how it's not a nickname!

If I hear this name, I immediately think of Little Women, which makes me think, "classic", which makes me think, "old fashioned", which makes me think, "old". So I think this would either fit a little girl or an old woman, but not anything in between. So you could go by Jo until about nine, and then go by your real name (Joanne or something) and then do Jo again when you're old.

Jo Polniaczek was the tough but beautiful tomboy on the '80s sitcom The Facts of Life. The show's creators named her after Jo March from the novel Little Women.

In Dutch this is mainly a masculine name. It's a short form of Johannes. [noted -ed]

Josefina "Jo" Lupo is the deputy sheriff (later head of GD security) in the Syfy series Eureka. She is portrayed by Erica Cerra.

Jo-Wilfried Tsonga is a (male) French tennis player. As of 2013, his highest ranking was No. 5.