by Victoria Rose Perkins

Created on: December 31, 2007

ETYMOLOGY:

John - meaning: "the Lord is gracious", "gift of God"

ORIGIN & HISTORY:

Since the earliest recordings of the name John are Biblical, the name is of Hebrew origin. We have a Hebrew John, "John the baptist", and the Christianized apostle John who recorded 3 letters (or epistles) and who also wrote the Book of John; one of the four gospels.

POPULARITY:

John is one of the most common names of all time. Ranking 1st place from 1900 through 1920 in the United States. The name continued to rank in single digits (3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th), until the year 1989! In the United Kingdom it ranks 75th in 2006 and 17th in Ireland. Ranking an awesome 7th place in Australia in 2005. This is just a sampling of how popular the name is. It has an incredible 85 variants in different countries around the world. Not to mention it is the first name of four United States presidents, 21 popes, 170 saints, famous kings, heroes, numerous entertainers and poets.

FASCINATING FACTS:

Former presidents John Adams and George Bush,Sr. have something in common. They are the only 2 presidents to have their sons become presidents. John Adams was the first president to move into the White House, but he has the distinction of being the only one who occupied it for the least amount of time, 4 months. This was due to losing the election to Thomas Jefferson.

John Wayne 1907-1979, nicknamed "the Duke", starred in 37 films with all the characters he portrayed being named "John". As for the nickname Duke? Mr. Wayne was called Duke (after the family dog) and in 6 more movies his character was named Duke!

The expression "sign your John Hancock here" derived from the real John Hancock, President of the 2nd US Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence. Mr. Hancock said he was going to make his signature "quite big and bold" so that King George III would have no trouble reading it without his spectacles!"

There is an impressive celebration of the name John in the Catholic Church. There are 170 Saint Days given to saints named "John" throughout the year.

NAMESAKES:

John Deere Agricultural Equipment. Created in 1837, the agricultural products are now sold worldwide.

Long John Silver, a chain of 1,200 seafood restaurants, worldwide since 1969.

St. John Valley, New Brunswick, Canada - tourist attraction.

Big Bad John - song recorded by Jimmy Dean in 1961. Became #1 on the US charts and #2 on British charts. Also crossed over for 10 weeks to the Country Charts and Adult/Contemporary
Charts for 10

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