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* [[Boris Johnson]] (born 1964), British politician
* [[Boris Johnson]] (born 1964), British politician
* [[Magic Johnson|Earvin "Magic" Johnson]] (born 1959), American basketball player and businessman
* [[Magic Johnson|Earvin "Magic" Johnson]] (born 1959), American basketball player and businessman
* [[John Wesley Johnson]] (born 1986), American soccer player and physician
* John Wesley Johnson (born 1986), American soccer player and physician


== See also ==
== See also ==

Revision as of 02:40, 29 March 2012

Johnson
Language(s)English
Origin
Meaning"son of John"
Region of originEngland, Scotland, Ireland
Other names
Related namesIvanov, Jansen, Janssen, Jensen, Johansson, Johnston, Johnstone, Jonson, Jonsson, Johnsson, Jones, Jovanović, Maclan, MacShane, McKeown, MacEoin, McOwen, McKeon, Juánez, O'Seán, McIan
[1][2]

Johnson is an English, Scottish, and Irish name of Norman origin. The name itself is a patronym of the given name John, literally meaning "son of John." The name John derives from Latin Johannes, which is derived through Greek Ἰωάννης Iōannēs, from Hebrew יוחנן Yohanan meaning "Yahweh has favoured". The name was extremely popular in Europe since the Christian era, as a result of it being given to St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist and nearly one thousand other Christian saints.[3] Johnson is the tenth most common surname in the United Kingdom,[1] and second most common in the United States. [4]

Description

In North America, the surname Johnson has absorbed many variants of this patronym from European languages[3], as well as the Danish Jørgensen (which does not share its root with Johnson, but is derived from Latin Georgius). It is the second most common family name in the United States after Smith. During the 1990 census, approximately 0.81% of people counted had this family name.[5]

In Ireland, Johnson is the Anglicization of the Gaelic surnames Mac Sean (McShane) or Mac Eoin (McKeown).[6]

Notable people sharing the surname Johnson

See also

References

  1. ^ a b British Surnames
  2. ^ "1990 US Census 1990 Name Files".
  3. ^ a b Name meanings "Johnson name meanings". ancestry.com. Retrieved 2007-10-22. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)
  4. ^ http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/1990_Census_Name_Files_dist.all.last_%281-100%29
  5. ^ United States Census Bureau (9 May 1995). s:1990 Census Name Files dist.all.last (1-100). Retrieved on 25 February 2008.
  6. ^ http://www.selectsurnamelist.com/johnson.html