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John (given name)

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For other uses, see John.
John
Pronunciation/ˈdʒɒn/, /ˈdʒɑn/)
GenderMale
Origin
MeaningGod is gracious

John is an English name for males.


sexy man

In English speaking countries

Since the time of the Crusades, John has been a common given name in English speaking countries, and either it or William was the number one name in England and English speaking North America from around 1550 until the middle of the twentieth century. John was the most popular name given to male infants in the United States until 1924, and though its use has fallen off gradually since then, John was still the 20th most common name for boys on the Social Security Administration's list of names given in 2006.[1] It was also long the most common male name in the UK, but by 2004 it had fallen out of the top 50 names for newborn boys in England and Wales.[2] By contrast Jack, which was a nickname for John but is established as a name in its own right, was the most popular name given to newborn boys in England and Wales every year from 1995 to 2005.[2][3]

In Great Britain, the name John has not been a popular name for members of the royal household, however. King John signed the Magna Carta in 1215; Prince Alexander John, the youngest son of King Edward VII, died shortly after birth, and Prince John, the youngest son of King George V, died in his sleep in 1919. As such, the name John has been considered unlucky by the British Royal Family and its use avoided. It was reported that Diana, Princess of Wales wished to name her elder son "John", after her own father, but was prevented from doing so by royal tradition.

Common mistakes

Because the name Jonathan is sometimes abbreviated as Jon, John is sometimes falsely considered to be a short form of Jonathan, especially in the United States, where the latter name is sometimes misspelled "Johnathan" as a result. John is a variation of the Hebrew name Yôḥānnān, whereas Jonathan derives from the Hebrew יוֹנָתָן Yônāṯān, which means "Gift from Yaweh" and thus is a longer version of Nathan.

Alternate forms

Other language forms

  • Eoin (Irish language derivation of Seán; in Irish and Scottish Gaelic refers to the Apostle)
  • Evan (Anglicized form of Welsh Ieuan or Ifan)
  • Giovanni, Gianni (Italian)
  • Gjon (Albania)
  • Giuàn (Western Lombard)
  • Ġwanni, Ġwann, Ġanni (Maltese)
  • Ian (Scottish derived from Gaelic Iain)
  • Ιωάννης, Γιάννης (Ioannis, Giannis) (Greek)
  • Ion (Romanian)
  • Ivan (Bulgarian, Croatian, Russian and other Slavic language nations)
  • Jan (Norwegian, Dutch, Swedish, Faroese, Polish, Czech, German)
  • Ján (Slovak)
  • Janez (Slovenian)
  • Jani (Finnish)
  • Jānis (Latvian)
  • János (Hungarian)
  • Jean (French)
  • Jens (Danish, Norwegian, Swedish)
  • Jevan (variation of Evan)
  • Joan (Catalan)
  • João (Portuguese)
  • Joanes (Basque)
  • Jógvan (Faroese)
  • Johan (Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, German, Faroese)
  • Johann (Germanic: German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch)
  • Johannes (Germanic: German, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Dutch)
  • Jon (Norwegian, Swedish, Basque)
  • Jón (Icelandic, Faroese)
  • Jonas (Lithuanian, Swedish)
  • Joni (Fijian)
  • Jovan (Serbian)
  • Juan (Spanish / Filipino), feminine form Juana with diminutive Juanita
  • Juhani (Finnish)
  • Seán (Irish Seán, after the French Jean)
  • Shane (anglicized form of Seán)
  • Shaun (anglicised form of Seán)
  • Shawn (anglicised form of Seán)
  • Shon (Israeli Hebrew) שון (from Shawn)
  • Siôn (Welsh)
  • Yahya (Arabic: يحيى) Muslim version of John
  • Yohanu (Telugu)
  • Yohanes (Eritrean)
  • Yohannan (Malayalam)
  • Yohani (Kirundi)
  • Yohanna (Arabic: يوحنا) the Arabic/ Aramaic language derivative used by Christians of the Levant.

Feminine forms

  • Giovanna (Italian)
  • Ioana
  • Ivana (Croatian)
  • Jana (Czech, Slovak)
  • Janina (Polish)
  • Jane (English)
  • Janet, Janice, both shortened as "Jan"
  • Jean
  • Jeanne (French)
  • Jeanette (French, adopted as an English name)
  • Joan
  • Joana (Portuguese, Catalan and Basque)
  • Joanne
  • Johanna
  • Jóhanna (Icelandic, Faroese)
  • Johanne (Norwegian, Danish)
  • Jovana (Serbian)
  • Seonaid, Sinead, Seonag
  • Ιωάννα , Γιάννα ( Ioanna , Gianna ) (Greek)

Pet, diminutive and alternative forms

  • Hans (pet form of Johannes)
  • Hansel/Hänsel (Bavarian/Austrian diminutive of Hans)
  • Hasse (Very common pet form of Hans in Swedish)
  • Ivica, Ivo, Ivek (Croatian diminutives of Ivan)
  • Jack (English dimunitive of John)
  • Jock (Scottish dimunitive of John)
  • Jeník, Jenda, Jeníček, Honza, Honzík, Honzíček (Czech diminutives of Jan)
  • Jan, Jani, Janko (Slovenian diminutives of Janez)
  • Jancsi (Hungarian diminutive of János)
  • Johnny/Johnnie (English pet name for John)
  • Jonn
  • Jovo, Jovica (Serbian diminutives of Jovan)
  • Juanita (Spanish feminine diminutive)

Forms and transliterations

See also

References

  1. ^ Popular Baby Names
  2. ^ a b Top UK baby names 2004
  3. ^ National Statistics
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