The first name John

Discover the meaning and origin of the first name John, its history and its evolution in baptism records preserved in Genealogy Quebec’s collections.

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About the first name John

Meaning

The name John is the English form of Jean and traditionally means “God is gracious”.

Historical origin

The name John comes from English John, from Latin Iohannes and Hebrew Yôḥānān.

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In Quebec, John appears notably in Anglophone, Irish, and Scottish families and in communities where several language traditions met.

Pronunciation:johndʒɑn

Frequency of the first name John by baptism year

The chart below shows the frequency of the first name John by the year of baptisms listed in Genealogy Quebec’s data. It highlights the periods when this first name appears most often and its evolution across generations.

4,352total mentions

Annual evolution of the first name JohnLine chart showing the frequency of the first name John in baptisms by year.1,00075050025001690175018101870193019901690–1694 1 baptisms1755–1759 1 baptisms1765–1769 4 baptisms1770–1774 7 baptisms1775–1779 8 baptisms1780–1784 3 baptisms1785–1789 11 baptisms1790–1794 9 baptisms1795–1799 19 baptisms1800–1804 15 baptisms1805–1809 12 baptisms1810–1814 8 baptisms1815–1819 24 baptisms1820–1824 40 baptisms1825–1829 107 baptisms1830–1834 198 baptisms1835–1839 264 baptisms1840–1844 378 baptisms1845–1849 416 baptisms1850–1854 445 baptisms1855–1859 406 baptisms1860–1864 558 baptisms1865–1869 329 baptisms1870–1874 208 baptisms1875–1879 203 baptisms1880–1884 120 baptisms1885–1889 76 baptisms1890–1894 69 baptisms1895–1899 72 baptisms1900–1904 35 baptisms1905–1909 35 baptisms1910–1914 29 baptisms1915–1919 37 baptisms1920–1924 35 baptisms1925–1929 43 baptisms1930–1934 38 baptisms1935–1939 19 baptisms1940–1944 14 baptisms1945–1949 8 baptisms1950–1954 12 baptisms1955–1959 13 baptisms1960–1964 9 baptisms1965–1969 7 baptisms1970–1974 2 baptisms1975–1979 3 baptisms1985–1989 1 baptisms1990–1994 1 baptisms

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