John

Hebrew
"God is gracious"

John Origin and Meaning

The name John is a boy's name of Hebrew origin meaning "God is gracious".

John reigned as the most popular of all boys' Christian names for 400 years, from the time the first Crusaders carried it back to Britain until the 1950s. Then American baby namers finally seemed to tire of this straight-arrow, almost anonymous John Doe of names, replacing it with fancier forms like Jonathan and the imported Sean and Ian.

John is an English derivative of the Hebrew name Yochanan via the Latin name Iohannes, itself coming from the Greek Ioannes. John was a key name in early Christianity, borne by John the Baptist, John the Apostle and John the Evangelist, plus 84 saints and 23 popes, as well as kings and countless other illustrious notables. Contrary to popular belief, the names John and Jonathan are unrelated, the latter being an elaboration of Nathan.

Because many of today's baby Johns get their names for familial rather than stylistic reasons, John isn't as ubiquitous as it once was. For modern parents, the nickname Jack or an international form like Gianni feels much fresher. But John is still one of the Top 10 boy names starting with J of all time.

The international versions of John are perennial classics in their own cultures: the French Jean, the Irish Sean, the Scottish Ian, the Welsh Evan and Ewan, the Italian Giovanni, and Gianni the Spanish Juan, the German Johann/Johannes, the Slavic Jan, the Russian Ivan, and on and on.

Celebrities who have gone with the timeless John include Michelle Pfeiffer, Bono, Johnny Depp, Lauryn Hill, Bridget Moynahan, and Rob Lowe.

Jon may be an abbreviated spelling of John or a short form of Jonathan.

# 26 in the US

John Rank in US Top 1000

# 137 on Nameberry

John Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

John Popularity

Famous People Named John

  • John "Johnny" Christopher Depp II
    American actor
  • John "Jack" Christopher Depp III
    son of Johnny Depp
  • Saint John the Baptist
    cousin of Jesus
  • John I
    VIII, Byzantine emperors
  • John I
    XXIII, popes
  • John Paul I and II
    popes
  • John
    King of England
  • John Balliol
    King of Scotland
  • John Milton
    English poet
  • John Hancock
    American revolutionary
  • Lt. Col. John Laurens
    American revolutionary and abolitionist
  • John Adams
    2nd U.S. president
  • John Wesley
    English founder of Methodism
  • John Quincy Adams
    6th U.S. president
  • John Tyler
    10th U.S. president
  • John Fitzgerald Kennedy
    35th U.S. president
  • John Wycliffe
    Morning Star of the Reformation
  • John Smith
    English settler of North America
  • John Locke
    English political philosopher
  • John Davison Rockefeller
    American business magnate
  • John Lounsbery
    American animator
  • John Jacob "Jack" Astor IV
    an American business mogaul; richest person to die on the Titanic
  • John Sidney (Blyth) Barrymore
    American actor
  • John Wayne (born Marion Robert Morrison)
    American actor
  • John Glenn
    American astronaut and politician
  • John Major
    Prime Minister of the U.K.
  • John Cleese
    English actor and comedian
  • John Winston Lennon
    English musician of The Beatles
  • John R. "Johnny" Cash
    American country music singer
  • John Joseph Travolta
    American actor and singer
  • John Rhys
    Davies, Welsh actor
  • John
    King of Denmark
  • John I and II
    Kings of Hungary
  • John Donne
    English poet
  • John Keats
    English poet
  • John Hoyer Updike
    American novelist
  • John Scot Barrowman
    Scottish,American actor
  • John Adam Belushi
    American actor/comedian
  • John Michael Green
    American novelist
  • John Clayton Mayer
    American singer,songwriter
  • John Alec Entwhistle
    bassist of English band The Who
  • (Arthur) John Gielgud
    English actor
  • John Foster Dulles
    U.S. Secretary of State
  • John William Oliver
    English comedian and TV personality
  • John Michael Turturro
    American actor
  • John Edmund Andrew Phillips
    lead singer of American band The Mamas and the Papas
  • John Christopher Reilly
    American actor
  • John (Cougar) Mellencamp
    American singer
  • John Dolmayan
    Armenian,American drummer for band System of a Down
  • John Carter Hensley
    American actor
  • John Joseph Edward "Jack" Cassidy
    American actor
  • Jonathan Southworth "John" Ritter
    American actor
  • John Singer Sargent
    American painter
  • John Cummings aka Johnny Ramone
    guitarist of American band The Ramones
  • John Paul Henry Daniel Richard Grimes
    of Irish twin duo "Jedward"
  • John Richard Deacon
    bassist for English band Queen
  • John Paul Cusack
    American actor
  • John Young
    American astronaut
  • John Franklin
    English Royal Navy officer and explorer of the Arctic
  • John Marcellus Huston
    American film director
  • (Nigel) John Taylor
    bassist for English band Duran Duran
  • John William Oates
    musician of American duo Hall & Oates
  • John Mark "Johnny" Galecki
    American actor
  • John Ross Bowie
    American actor
  • John Phillip Stamos
    American actor/musician
  • John Patrick "Jack" Douglass
    American comedy vlogger
  • John Wesley Shipp
    American actor
  • John "Barney" Yazici aka ThatGuyBarney
    Turkish,American YouTuber
  • John
    David Duggar(b.1990), 3rd child (2nd son) of reality TV's Duggar family. Twin brother of Jana Marie
  • John Owen Lowe
    son of American actor Rob Lowe
  • John Aether Ramirez Land
    son of Dania Ramirez & John Land
  • John David Linch (b. 2007)
    son of American legal commentator and television host Nancy Grace
  • John Phillips (b. 2009)
    son of American actress Julie Bowen
  • John "Rocco" Falconetti (b. 2009)
    son of former artistic gymnast Shannon Miller
  • John Nash Chatham (b. 2014)
    son of American actor Wes Chatham and American sports broadcaster Jenn Brown
  • John Willard "Bill" Marriott
    Sr., founder of Marriott International
  • John Sidney McCain III
    American politician, senior US Senator from Arizona
  • John Brooks
    American author, activist and blogger devoted to raising awareness of suicide and a barrier on the Golden Gate Bridge
  • John Verhoek
    Dutch footballer
  • Prince John Charles Francis of the United Kingdom
    fifth and youngest son of George V and Mary of Teck
  • John Ledin
    Swedish guitarist, son of Swedish musician Tomas actor
  • John Burke Krasinski
    American actor
  • John Candy
    late Canadian actor & comedian
  • John Lithgow
    American Actor
  • John Goodman
    American Actor
  • John Ronald Reuel "J.R.R." Tolkien
    English writer , author of The Hobbit, The Lord of The Rings, The Silmarillion

John in Pop Culture

  • John
    fourth book in the New Testament
  • 1
    2, &3 John, epistles in the New Testament
  • John Coffey
    character in "The Green Mile" novel/movie
  • John Trent
    character in "In the Mouth of Madness"
  • John Winchester
    character on TV's "Supernatural"
  • John Bender
    character in "The Breakfast Club"
  • John Hamish Watson
    character in the Sherlock Holmes series
  • Dr. John Montague/Markway
    character in "The Haunting of Hill House"
  • John Smith
    character in "I Am Number Four" series
  • John Smith
    main character in 'The Dead Zone' series
  • John Smith
    alias of the Doctor on TV's Doctor Who
  • John Ross Ewing I
    II, and III, characters on TV's "Dallas"
  • John Nelson
    character in video game "The Sims"
  • John "Johnny" Burb
    character in video game "The Sims"
  • John Kennish
    character on TV's "Switched at Birth"
  • John Bennett
    character on TV's "Orange is the New Black"
  • John Sheppard
    character on TV's "Stargate: Atlantis"
  • John Crichton
    character on TV's "Farscape"
  • John Connor
    character in The Terminator series
  • John Hayden
    Character in "Abandon" series by Meg Cabot
  • John
    main character in G. A. Henty's, For the Temple
  • John Becker
    character on TV's "Becker"
  • John Clasky
    character in movie "Spanglish"
  • John Egbert
    character in webcomic Homestuck
  • John Bennett
    character on TV's "Alphas"
  • John Brooke
    character in the Little Women series
  • John 'Demi' Brooke Jr
    character in the Little Women series
  • John James Rambo
    main character in "Rambo" series
  • John Masters
    character from Star of Babylon by Barbara Wood
  • John Dee
    main character in the "Kronos Chronicles"
  • John the Savage
    character in "Brave New World" by Aldous Huxley
  • John McBain
    character on American soaps "One Life to Live" and "General Hospital"
  • John Locke
    character on TV's "Lost"
  • Little John
    one of Robin Hood's Merry Men
  • John Monad
    character on TV's "John from Cincinnati"
  • John Whitefoot
    character in G. A. Henty's, Orange and Green
  • John Gage
    a character on TV's "Emergency!"
  • John Townsend
    character in "Yesterday's child" by Barbara Wood
  • John Reese
    character on TV's "Person of Interest"
  • John Moore
    character in "The Alienist"
  • Red John
    villain on TV's "The Mentalist"
  • John Glenn Tracy
    character from The Thunderbirds series
  • John Swanson
    son of Ron Swanson and Diane Lewis on TV's Parks and Recreation
  • Dr. John "JD" Dorian
    character on the TV show "Scrubs"
  • Dr. John Carter
    character from TV show "ER"
  • John Andrew Diggle aka Spartan
    character on TV's "Arrow"
  • John Reed
    a character from Charlotte Bronte's "Jane Eyre"
  • John "Pyro" Allerdyce
    character from X,men comics
  • John Proudstar aka Thunderbird
    character from X,men comics
  • John Wilkes
    character from "Gone with the Wind"
  • John Jones
    also known as J'onn J'onzz and Martian Manhunter, character from DC Universe
  • John Stewart
    also known as The Green Lantern, character from DC Universe
  • John Corben
    also known as Metallo, character from DC Universe
  • John Grayson
    character from DC Universe
  • John Constantine
    character from DC Universe
  • Dr. John Wade Prentice Jr. and his father John Prentice Sr.
    characters from "Guess Who's Coming to Dinner"
  • John
    slang for a toilet
  • John Kramer
    main character in the SAW movie franchise, played by Tobin Bell
  • John Murphy
    main character in the TV show "The 100"
  • John Proctor
    a character in Arthur Miller's play, "The Crucible."
  • John Michael Shelby
    character in bbc series Peaky blinders
  • John Sturgis
    College Physics professor on the TV series "Young Sheldon"
  • John LaMarr
    character on TV series "The Orville"
  • John Thomas "J.T." Lambert
    character on ABC TGIF sitcom "Step by Step"
  • John Harriman
    Captain of the Enterprise,B in the 1994 film "Star Trek: Generations"
  • John Munch
    character on TV's "Law and Order: SVU" and "Homicide: Life on the Street"
  • John James "Jack" McCoy
    character on "Law and Order"
  • John Tyree
    character played by Channing Tatum in the movie "Dear John"