John

• (male given name): Jon
• (Gospel of St John): Joh. (abbreviation, rare)

From Middle English John, Johan, Johannes, from Anglo-Norman Jehan, Johan, and also Old English Iohannes, both from Late Latin Iōhannēs, variant of Latin Iōannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Biblical Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yôḥānān), perhaps contracted from a former יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān, “God is gracious”).

Doublet of Jack, Jon, Johan, Johann, Johannes, Jean, Sean, Shane, Shaun, Ian, Ivan, Evan, Juan, Giovanni, and Yahya.

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɒn/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɑn/

• Audio (AU)

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• Rhymes: -ɒn

• Audio (UK)

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John (plural Johns)

1=Gospel of John

1. A male given name originating from the Bible [in turn from Hebrew]; very popular since the Middle Ages.
   • 1852 August, D. H. Jacques, “A Chapter on Names”, in The Knickerbocker, or, New-York Monthly Magazine, volume XL, page 114:

     John is a most excellent name, and Smith is a surname which is worthy of respect and honor, but wo to the man on whom they are conjoined! For John Smith to aspire to senatorial dignities or to the laurel of a poet is simply ridiculous. Who is John Smith? He is lost in the multitude of John Smiths, and individual fame is impossible.

   • 1920, John Collings Squire, “Initials”, in Life and Letters: Essays, Hodder & Stoughton, pages 233–235:

     The name I refer to is John. It has been borne by many illustrious men and an innumerable multitude of the obscure. - - - It is as fixed as the English landscape and the procession of seasons. It never becomes wearisome or tarnished. Nothing affects it; nothing can bring it into contempt; it stands like a rock amid the turbulent waves of human history, as fine and noble a thing now as it was when it first took shape on human lips. It is a name to live up to; but if one who bears it sinks into disrepute it falls not with him, but rather stays in the firmament above him, shining down upon him like a reproachful star.

   1. (informal) Used generically for a man whose actual name may not be known.

      a John Doe murder case; the dreaded Dear John letter; if we were to ask John Q. Public his opinion

   2. (informal) Used frequently to form an idea personified, as in John Bull, John Barleycorn (see derivations below).
2. (biblical) Persons of the Christian Bible: John the Baptist; and names possibly referring to one, two or three persons, frequently called "Saint": John the Apostle, John the Evangelist and John of Patmos (also called John the Divine or John the Theologian).
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, John 1:6:

     There was a man sent from God, whose name was John.

3. (biblical) The Gospel of St. John, a book of the New Testament of the Bible. Traditionally the fourth of the four gospels.
4. (biblical) One of the books in the New Testament of the Bible, the epistles of John (1 John, 2 John and 3 John).
5. A surname originating as a patronymic.

• (name used to address a man whose actual name is not known (standard)): sir
• (name used to address a man whose actual name is not known(colloquial or slang)): boy (especially to a younger man), bro (US, New Zealand), gov or guv (British), guvnor (British), Mac (US), man (especially US), mate (British, Australian), mister, son (to a younger man), buddy (Canada)

• (feminine forms of John):

• (diminutives):

• (male names related to given name John):

• (surnames related to the given name John):

• → Arabic: جُون (jōn)
• → Cebuano: John
• → French: John
• → Italian: John

John (plural Johns)

1. (UK, military, slang) A new recruit at Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.
   • 1842, The United Service Magazine:

     I and the other "Johns," as I soon discovered all new-comers at Sandhurst were, and are still, styled, although at the time I was unconscious of it, managed to troop in after the A company, but although not two minutes after them, found all the different messes already seated and hard at work.

   • 2017, Verity McInnis, Women of Empire:

     To avoid bullying, first-year “Johns” (from Johnny Raw) “fagged” for senior classmen known as “Regs.” Fagging included making beds, running messages, and smuggling contraband.

2. (US, slang, archaic) Alternative letter-case form of john: a toilet, lavatory, outhouse, or chamber pot.

• See Thesaurus:toilet, Thesaurus:bathroom, and Thesaurus:chamber pot

• Cousin John

From English John, from Middle English Johannes, John, Johan, from Anglo-Norman Jehan, Johan, from Latin Iōhannēs (variant of Iōannēs), from New Testament Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Biblical Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yōḥānān), perhaps contracted from a former יְהוֹחָנָן (Yəhōḥānān, “God is gracious”).

John

1. a male given name from English [in turn from Hebrew]

For quotations using this term, see Citations:John.

A contraction of Johannes, later reinforced by the English John.

John c

1. a male given name

• Johnsen

• Danskernes Navne: 44 136 males with the given name John (compared to 3 492 named Jon) have been registered in Denmark between about 1890 (=the population alive in 1967) and January 2005, with the frequency peak in the 1950s. Accessed on March 20th, 2011.

• IPA^(key): /jɔnː/
• Rhymes: -ɔnː
• Homophone: Jonn

John m

1. a male given name

• son of John: Johnsson
• daughter of John: Johnsdóttir

Borrowed from English John. Doublet of Jean.

• IPA^(key): /dʒɔn/

John m

1. A male given name and surname in English

Borrowed from English John. Doublet of Giovanni.

• IPA^(key): /ˈd͡ʒɔn/[1]
• Rhymes: -ɔn

John m or f by sense

1. A male given name and surname in English

• Jhon, Joan, Johan, Johannes, Johne, Jon, Joon

From Anglo-Norman Johan, Jehan, and also Old English Iohannes, both from Latin Iōhannēs, Iōannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yōḥānān).

• IPA^(key): /d͡ʒɔːn/, /ˈd͡ʒɔː(h)an/, /d͡ʒɔːˈhanɛs/
• Rhymes: -ɔːn

John

1. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English John
2. a patrynomic surname transferred from the given name
3. An appellation for a generic individual, especially of lower social standing.
4. An appellation for a priest.
5. John the Baptist or John the Apostle/John the Evangelist (biblical figures)

• Jankin, Jackin (diminutive)
  • English: Jack
  • Scots: Jock
    • → Scottish Gaelic: Seoc
  • Yola: Jockeen, Jackeen

• English: John
• Scots: John
• Yola: Jone, Joan, Joane

• “Jon, n.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007, retrieved 2019-11-21.

Medieval contraction of Johannes later reinforced by the English John. Used as a spelling variant of the more traditional Jon.

John

1. a male given name

• Johnsen

• Kristoffer Kruken - Ola Stemshaug: Norsk personnamnleksikon, Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1995, →ISBN
• Statistisk sentralbyrå, Namnestatistikk: 20 361 males with the given name John (compared to 16 263 named Jon) alive in Norway on January 1st 2011, with the frequency peak in the 1920s. Accessed on March 29th 2011.

From Middle English John, Johan, from Anglo-Norman Johan, Jehan, and also Old English Iohannes, both from Latin Iōhannēs, Iōannēs, from Koine Greek Ἰωάννης (Iōánnēs), from Hebrew יוֹחָנָן (Yōḥānān).

• IPA^(key): /dʒon/

John

1. a male given name, equivalent to English John

• Ian

From English John. First recorded in Sweden in 1729. Used as a spelling variant of the traditional Swedish Jon.

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John c (genitive Johns)

1. a male given name

• Johnsson
• John Blund

• Roland Otterbjörk: Svenska förnamn, Almqvist & Wiksell 1996, →ISBN
• Statistiska centralbyrån: 66 757 males with the given name John (compared to 5 963 named Jon) alive in Sweden on December 31st, 2010, with the frequency peak in the 1910s. Accessed on March 29th, 2011.