Short form of Janelle, a modern feminine diminutive of Jane, meaning God is gracious.
Janel belongs to the great family of names descending from the Hebrew Yochanan — 'God is gracious' — which travelled through Latin as Iohannes, branched into John for men, and produced an extraordinary flowering of feminine forms: Joan, Jane, Janet, Janelle, Janine, and Janel among them. Jane itself was the dominant English feminine form by the Tudor period, borne by queens and saints alike, and the -el and -elle suffixes that generate Janel reflect a French-influenced elegance that became fashionable in the twentieth century. Janet was widely used through the mid-century, and Janelle emerged as a more melodic variant in the 1960s and 70s, peaking alongside a fashion for smooth, flowing feminine names.
Janel occupies a space slightly apart from Janelle — lighter, with a cleaner ending — and it has been borne by the American actress Janel Parrish, whose long run on Pretty Little Liars brought the spelling to wider notice. The name also has independent roots in French, where 'Janel' appeared as an early diminutive of Jeanne. What distinguishes Janel from its many relatives is its gentle compression: it keeps all the warmth of Jane and the musicality of Janelle without feeling either plain or overly elaborate.
It is a name that has traveled far — from Hebrew scripture through medieval France to modern America — and arrived with its grace intact. Parents drawn to vintage feminine names often find Janel a more distinctive alternative to the currently ubiquitous Jane.