John - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 1 syll. joh(n), jo-hn ] The boy name John is pronounced as JHAAN ^KEY. John is used chiefly in the English language and its origin is Hebrew. The name has the meaning Yahweh is gracious, Yahweh is merciful. Biblical name derived from the elements 'yahweh' name of God ; 'chanan' meaning to be gracious. Ieuan (Old Irish), Ioannes (Old Greek), Johanan (Hebrew), Johannes (Latin), and Yohanan (Hebrew) are older forms of John. The name is from the Latin Johannes or the New Testament Greek Ioannes, which are short forms of the Hebrew Yohanan or Johanan. The name was borne by several persons in the Old Testament of the Bible, including one of the mighty men of David. In the New Testament, the name was borne by several important characters, including John the Baptist who baptized Jesus, John the Apostle who was the most-loved disciple of Jesus, and John the Evangelist who authored the fourth gospel. The latter two characters are believed by some to refer to the same person. In the 11th century, the name was introduced by the Normans to England in the form of Jon or Johan. The name was borne by kings of England, France, Sweden, Denmark, Hungary, Poland, Portugal, and other parts of Europe. Eight Byzantine emperors also bore the name. In the 13th century, King John's reputation for treachery diminished the popularity of the name, especially among royal families in England. Among English Puritans and other Christian fundamentalists, the name has long been widely used, given its strong biblical associations. The name was borne by numerous saints and no fewer than twenty-three popes. The popularity of the name continued to gain ground throughout and after the medieval period; by the late 17th century almost 30 percent of English babies were given the name. In the 20th century, the popularity of Pope John XXIII (Angelo Giuseppe Roncalli, 1881-1963), who was known in Italy as 'The Good Pope', also inspired many Roman Catholics to adopt the name. The term 'John Bull' is used to refer to the typical Englishman; it was created in 1712 by the Scottish writer John Arbuthnot (1667-1735) and popularized by print makers and writers. The name Jane (English) is the female form of John.

The name John is widely used; it has 172 variants that are used in both English and other languages. Variants of John used in English include Evan, Giovanny, Ian (used in Scottish too), Jacki, Jackie, Jacky, Jenkin, Jo (used in Dutch, German, and Japanese too), Jock, Johan (used in Bavarian, Czech, Estonian, German, and Scandinavian too), Johns, Johnston, Johnty, Jonas (used in Lithuanian, French, German, Greek, Scandinavian, and Spanish too), Jonathon, Jonni (used in Finnish too), Jonnie, Jonny, Jonson, Jovani, Jovanni, Jovanny, Jovany, Sean (used in Irish too), Shane (used in Irish too), Shaun, Shawn (used in Irish too), Shayne, and Zane. Other English forms include the pet forms Jack, Johnie, Johnnie, and Johnny, and the variant spellings Jon (used in Scandinavian too) and Jonn.

Foreign variants of John include Ansis (Latvian), Delsean (Irish), Django (German), Eoin (Irish and Scottish), Evaan (Ukrainian), Gian (Italian), Gianetto (Italian), Gianni (Italian), Giannini (Italian), Giannis (Greek), Giannos (Greek), Gioannes (Greek), Giovanni (Italian), Giovannino (Italian), Gjon (Albanian), Haensel (German), Hampus (Scandinavian), Hannes (Finnish and German), Hanno (German), Hannu (Finnish), Hans (Dutch, German, and Scandinavian), Hansel (German and Scandinavian), Hansl (German), Hanus (Czech), Hasse (Scandinavian), Hazze (Scandinavian), Hennes (German), Henning (German and Scandinavian), Honza (Czech), Hovhannes (Armenian), Iain (Scottish), Iancu (Romanian), Ianos (Czech), Iban (Basque), Iefan (Irish), Ieuan (Welsh), Ifan (Welsh), Ignac (Polish), Ioan (Romanian and Slavic), Ioann (Russian), Ioannes (Greek), Ioannis (Greek), Ionel (Romanian), Ivan (Russian and Slavic), Ivanchik (Russian), Ivano (Italian and Russian), Ivas (Russian), Iván (Spanish), Iwan (Polish and Russian), Jan (Belgian, Czech, Dutch, German, Polish, and Scandinavian), Janco (Czech), Jancsi (Hungarian), Janek (Czech and Polish), Janez (Slavic), Jani (Hungarian), Janic (Breton and French), Janick (Breton and French), Janik (Breton and French), Janika (Hungarian), Janis (Lithuanian), Jankiel (Polish), Janko (Hungarian), Jankó (Hungarian), Jann (German), Janne (Finnish and Scandinavian), Jannes (Frisian and German), Jannic (Breton and French), Jannick (Breton and French), Jannik (Breton and French), Jannis (Dutch and German), Jano (Hungarian and Czech), Janos (Hungarian), Janosch (German), Janós (Hungarian), Janusz (Polish), Jas (Polish), Jasio (Polish), Jean (French), Jeannot (French), Jehan (Belgian, French, and Iranian), Jenda (Czech), Jens (German and Scandinavian), Jiannis (Greek), Joan (Catalan), Joanico (Portuguese), Joao (Portuguese), João (Portuguese), Joba (Lapp), Jofan (Lapp), Johann (German), Johannes (German), Jonam (Scandinavian), Jone (Welsh), Jonelis (Lithuanian), Jonukas (Lithuanian), Jonutis (Lithuanian), Jovan (Slavic), Jowan (Slavic), Juan (Spanish and Manx), Juanch (Spanish), Juancho (Spanish), Juanito (Spanish), Juhana (Finnish), Juhani (Finnish), Juho (Finnish), Jukka (Finnish), Jussi (Finnish), Nino (Italian), Ohannes (Turkish), Seann (Irish), Sion (Welsh), Sione (Maori), Sionym (Welsh), Sjanoek (Dutch), Vanek (Russian), Vanka (Russian), Vanko (Russian), Vanni (Italian), Vanya (Russian), Wanja (Russian), Yahya (Arabic and Swahili), Yan (German), Yanick (Breton and French), Yanik (Breton and French), Yanis (Greek), Yanka (Russian), Yanko (Slavic), Yann (German), Yannic (Breton and French), Yannick (Breton and French), Yannik (Breton and French), Yannis (Greek), Yoan (French), Yoann (French), Yochanan (Yiddish), Yohan (French), and Yvan (French).

See also the related forms, Hank (English), Jahwe (German), Jonelle (English), Johnathan (English), and Jonell (English).

John is a classic favorite. At present it is still a very popular baby name for boys, though not to the extent it was previously. In 1900, 6.061% of baby boys were given the name John. Its ranking then was #1. The baby name has since experienced a loss in popularity, and is today of moderate use. In 2008, its usage was only 0.610% and its ranking #20, but it was nonetheless the most popular within all boy names in its group. In 2008, John was more widely used than the next most popular name, Evan (English), by 34% . The name John has been predominantly given to boys, though it has also been used as a girl name in the past century. In 1988, John as a boy name outnumbered its use as a girl name by 169 times.

Baby names that sound like John include Jon (English and Scandinavian), Jonn (English), Gjon (Albanian), Jaan (Estonian), Jan (Belgian, Czech, Dutch, German, Polish, and Scandinavian), Jann (German), Janne (Finnish and Scandinavian), Jean (French), Jem (English), Jim (English and Dutch), Jin (Chinese and Korean), Joan (Catalan), Joergen (Scandinavian), Jone (Welsh), Joona (Finnish), Jowan (Slavic), Jun (Japanese), Gene (English), Gion (German), and Gyan (Indian).

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