by Hannah Russell

Created on: December 30, 2007

John (JAWHN)

Meaning: God is Gracious

Origin and History: A Hebrew name originally in the form of Yochannan, it became the Anglicized John via the Greek Ioannes or the Greek equivalent of the Hebrew

Popularity:
Current Standing: #33 in the US in 2007
High Point: 1/5 of all men in Early America were named John and of English men at the same time bore the name
Currently: Slight decline

Projected: Possible revival because of the seeming revival of Biblical names (as seen by favorites in 2007, Noah, Elijah and others)

Fascinating Facts: John is considered one of the most common middle names, a "no-nonsense" name and one that will be for a good time purely masculine. Name experts Linda Rosenkrantz and Pamela Redmond Satran list John as one of sixty names that transcend time and will always be acceptable to name children. According to sociologist Stanley Lieberson of Harvard University, John ties with Thomas as the eighth most common name choice of white mothers with little education. The name John is commonly used to represent Everyman with phrases such as John Bull, John Doe and John Q. Public. John was the 2nd most common name for males in the 3rd quarter of the nineteenth century, and of the 99 settlers of Raleigh colony, 23 of them were named John.

Namesakes: There have been colleges called St. John or John, several towns and multiple other landmarks. These include Fort John (later replaced by Fort Laramie), the city of Fort St. John in British Columbia, Canada, the St. John the Divine Cathedral, the city of John Day, Oregon, and the John Day Fossil Beds among others.

Famous Persons: There are at least two biblical Johns in John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, as well as a total of 82 canonized St. Johns. Other notable Johns are John Wycliffe, John Milton, John Locke, John Adams, John Cabot, John Glenn, John Hancock, John Keats, John F. Kennedy and many more. John has been the name of 21 Popes, 8 Byzantine emperors, and several Kings in England, France, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Portugal and Hungary. Johns have covered every area of culture and history. There have been several authors who bore the name such as John Steinbeck and J.R.R Tolkien (John Ronald Reuel Tolkien). There have also been actors such as John Cusack, and even criminals such as John Henry "Doc" Holliday.

Variants: Nicknames for John include Jack, Jackie, Jacky, Jock, Jocko, Johnnie, Johnny and Jon. There are translations of John in most every European language, giving us names such as Evan, Ewan, Giovanni, Hanan, Hans, Iaian, Ian, Jan, Janos, Jean, Jens, Johann, Johannes, Jone, Juan, Owen, Sean, Zane, Jone, Ivan and Jaan. There have also been derivatives such as Jon, and feminizations such as Joan, Joanne, Jeanne, Juana and Johnna.

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