(male) English form of Latin Io(h)annes, New Testament Greek Iōannēs, a contracted form of the Hebrew name Johanan ‘God is gracious’ (the name of several different characters in the Old Testament, including one of King David's ‘mighty men’). John is the spelling used in the Authorized Version of the New Testament. The name is of great importance in early Christianity: it was borne by John the Baptist (the precursor of Christ himself, who baptized sinners in the River Jordan), by one of Christ's disciples (John the Apostle, a fisherman, brother of James), and by the author of the fourth gospel (John the Evangelist, identified in Christian tradition with the apostle, but more probably a Greek-speaking Jewish Christian living over half a century later). The name was also borne by many saints and by twenty-three popes, including John XXIII (Giuseppe Roncalli, 1881–1963), whose popularity was yet another factor influencing people to choose this given name. It was also a royal name, being borne by eight Byzantine emperors and by kings of Hungary, Poland, Portugal, France, and elsewhere. Among numerous bearers of note in recent times have been American president John F. Kennedy (1917–63) and British pop singer John Lennon (1940–80). In its various forms in different languages, it has been the most perennially popular of all Christian names.
Cognates: Irish: Eoin, Seán. Scottish: Ian, Iain, Eòin, Seathan. Welsh: Ieuan, Sión. German: Johann, Johannes. Dutch: Jan. Danish, Norwegian: Jens, Johan, Jan. Swedish: Johan, Jöns, Jon, Jan. French: Jean. Spanish: Juan. Catalan: Joan. Portuguese: João. Italian: Giovanni, Gianni. Greek: Ioannis, Iannis. Russian: Ivan. Polish: Jan. Czech: Jan. Finnish: Juhani, Jussi, Hannu. Hungarian: János. Latvian: Janis, Jānis.
Pet forms: Johnny, Johnnie, Jack, Hank.
Scottish and northern Irish: habitational name from what is now a deserted village in the parish of Barkby, Leicestershire. This is named from Old English hamel ‘crooked’ + dūn ‘hill’. Hamilton near Glasgow was founded by the Hamiltons and named after them. In Ireland, this name may have replaced Hamill in a few cases. It has also been used as the equivalent of the Irish (Cork) name Ó hUrmholtaigh.
FOREBEARS This name is borne by one of the most distinguished families of the Scottish nobility; they hold many titles, including the Marquessate and Dukedom of Hamilton, the Marquessate of Douglas, the Dukedom of Abercorn, and the Earldom of Haddington. They are descended from Walter Robert the Bruce in the 13th century. A member of this family was SirWilliam Hamilton (1730–1803), a British diplomat and archaeologist, whose wife, Lady Emma Hamilton (?1765–1815), became the mistress of Admiral Horatio Nelson. In the 16th century bearers of the name found their way to Russia, where they became naturalized; hence the Russian forms Gamentov, Khamentov, and Khomutov (the latter having been affected by folk etymological association with khomut ‘horse collar’). A branch of the family was established in Ireland by Sir Frederick Hamilton (died 1646), who served in the Swedish army of Gustavus Adolphus. He later became governor of Ulster, and his descendants were created Viscounts Boyne. The family have given their name to Newtownhamilton and Hamiltonsbaron in County Armagh. Another branch of the family was to be found in Denmark, where Henrik Albertsen Hamilton (1588–1648) was a noted Latin poet in his day. Debrabandere gives a 17th-century example of a Hamilton from Glasgow recorded in the Low Countries, where the name is found in the forms Hamelton and Hammerton.
