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Summary
- John is a biblical name: the English form of the Hebrew Yohanan, “Yahweh is gracious,” through the Greek Iōannēs and the Latin Iohannes.
- In the Old Testament English Bibles spell it Johanan or Jehohanan; the best-known bearer is Johanan the son of Kareah (Jeremiah 40–43).
- The New Testament names five men John: the Baptist, the apostle son of Zebedee, John Mark, the father of Simon Peter, and a member of the high priest’s family (Acts 4:6).
- Luke 1:59–63 tells how Elizabeth and Zechariah insisted on the name John for their son, against their relatives’ wishes.
- Tradition credits the apostle with the fourth Gospel, three letters and Revelation; Dionysius of Alexandria already doubted that one John wrote them all.
- John was the most common boys’ name in England for most of the 13th to 20th centuries and in the United States until 1923.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Behind the Name, “John,” “Johan” and “Johnny,” with United States popularity figures from Social Security Administration data. https://www.behindthename.com/name/john
- “Yohanan,” Wikipedia, on the Hebrew name, its Old Testament bearers and Wycliffe’s spellings. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yohanan
- William Smith, Smith’s Bible Dictionary (1901), “Johanan”; M. G. Easton, Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), “Johanan” and “Jehohanan”; International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, “Johanan,” on Bible Study Tools. https://www.biblestudytools.com/dictionary/johanan/
- Irenaeus of Lyons, Against Heresies, book 3, chapters 1 and 3, in Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 1. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/0103301.htm
- Eusebius, Church History, book 7, chapter 25, quoting Dionysius of Alexandria, in Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 1. https://www.newadvent.org/fathers/250107.htm
- “John the Baptist,” “John the Apostle” and “Authorship of the Johannine works,” Wikipedia, on feast days and modern scholarship. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Authorship_of_the_Johannine_works
- “Pope John XXIII,” Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_John_XXIII
- Scripture quotations from the English Standard Version (Luke 1:13, 59–63; Mark 1:4; John 1:29, 42; 3:30; 21:15, 20, 24; Matthew 11:11; Mark 6:18; Acts 12:12; Galatians 2:9; Revelation 1:9; 2 John 1; 3 John 1), the New Revised Standard Version (Mark 6:14, checked in the Anglicised and Updated Editions) and Irenaeus in the Ante-Nicene Fathers translation. References: John 13:23; 19:26–27; Jeremiah 40:8; 43:4–7; 1 Chronicles 3:15; Nehemiah 12:22–23; Acts 3:1–4:3; 4:5–7; Mark 1:9, 19–20; 5:37; 9:2; 14:33; 6:17–29. Reina-Valera 1960, Louis Segond, Luther 1545 and Chinese Union Version checked at John 1:6 for Juan, Jean, Johannes and 约翰.
