(female), formerly (male) Transferred use of the surname, in origin a local name from any of the various places (in the West Midlands, Derbyshire, Hampshire, and Surrey) named in Old English from scīr ‘county, shire’ or scīr ‘bright’ + lēah ‘wood, clearing’. It was given by Charlotte Brontë to the heroine of her novel Shirley (1849). According to the novel, her parents had selected the name in prospect of a male child and used it regardless. Shirley had earlier been used as a boy's name (Charlotte Brontë refers to it as a ‘masculine cognomen’), but this literary influence fixed it firmly as a girl's name. It was strongly reinforced during the 1930s and 40s by the popularity of the child film star Shirley Temple (b. 1928).
English and Scottish: patronymic from the personal name John. As an American family name, Johnson has absorbed patronymics and many other derivatives of this name in continental European languages. (For forms, see Hanks and Hodges 1988.)
FOREBEARS Johnson is the second most frequent surname in the U.S. It was brought independently to North America by many different bearers from the 17th and 18th centuries onward. Andrew Johnson (1808– 75), 17th president of the U.S., was born in Raleigh, NC, the younger son of Jacob Johnson and Mary (or Polly) McDonough.Little is known of his ancestors. The 36th president, Lyndon B. Johnson, dates his American forebears back seven generations to James Johnston (sic) (b. about 1662) who lived at Currowaugh, Nansemond, and Isle of Wight Counties, VA. Noted early bearers also include Marmaduke (d. 1674), a printer who came from England to MA in 1660; Edward (1598–1672), a colonial chronicler who was baptized at St.George's parish, Canterbury, England, and emigrated to Boston in 1630; and Sir Nathaniel (c. 1645–1713), a colonial governor of Carolina, who came from County Durham, England.
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![[Image: Color-coded map of the United States showing name distribution by state.]](/map/Shirley.Johnson.US.gif)
