The Anglo-Saxon Word

The following is a passage taken from the "Hand-Book of Anglo-Saxon and Early English" by Hiram Corson, published 1873.  [page 3 of JOHN I ]  It shows the word for JOHN as used in the Anglo-Saxon.

In the middle of the figure is the word "Iohanne".   It is similar to the Greek spelling, and becomes the word JOHN in the English.

The front page of the Anglo-Saxon reference is shown:

What a deal!

The Greek Word

JOHN

Generally regarded as one of the first to conceive the ideal of  a "One World",   Alexander the
Great brought the Greek language to the existing world. [reigned from 336 to 323 B.C.]  "Hellenistic Culture" became the term to describe much of the activity of the day.  In Egypt, a city name, of course, Alexandria became a focal point of this new world.  Here, scholars of the day tried to tie the Greek and Near Eastern thought together.  Jewish scholars [285 - 247 B.C.] translated the Hebrew canon into a Greek translation called "The Septuagint".  The Hebrew word for "John" [shown last post] became translated into the Greek shown above.

The actual text where this translation occurs is shown below.  The Greek word is underlined.

The Hebrew to Greek before the Roman world came into existence.  What a deal it is.


My copy is from: The Septuagint with Apocrypha, by Charles Lee Brenton.  It was first published in London in 1851.  My edition is by Hendrickson Publishers, Eighth Printing December 1999, p. 563.

JOHN...TO...JONES : Big Picture 4

Perhaps, this will be the biggest picture yet.  It shows a corridor in time through the languages that became involved in our surname JONES.  First, take a deep breath...then take a look at the figure below.

Wow you might say...but let's begin in the upper left corner.

The Hebrew language was the first to introduce the writing of the name we translate JOHN.  It was around 1000 BC.  The documentation can be found in "The Interlinear Bible -  Hebrew / English" Vol. II, p. 1123.  "Jehohanan" is the English translation, and the story is found in the book  I Chronicles 26:3.

The name carried through the Hebrew, and it was not until the Jewish scholars at Alexandria, Egypt (285-247 BC) translated their books into Greek, that the name appears in a more widely used language.  "Ionathan" [translated Jonathan] is the word. The documentation can be found in "The Septuagint with Apocrypha" by Brenton, p.561.

Now is was the Roman Empire that brought its language [Latin] to the world, and it became the dominate phonetic expression.   It was under this "world administration" that Christianity had its beginnings, and the name JOHN appears frequently in the early Christian writings.   Around 250 AD, the Christians were being driven out of the Empire, and the faith moved to the Islands.  Here it met the Celtic folks who formed the "Celtic Church". [P-Celtic/Brythonic]

Around 400 AD the Roman world was about to collapse and the P-Celtic folks began their own development as linguistic groups.  It was also around this time that the Saxons began their appearance, and the Anglo-Saxon language joined in the fray.  So, by 600 AD the Saxons had accepted Christianity, the Celtic Church had survived, and the Roman center of Church administration all used the surname JOHN. [Only in their own language...Latin being that of the Church.]

So again, before the French [Normans] ever showed up; 1) Latin, 2) Anglo-Saxon , and 3) Welsh were recording the name JOHN in their own languages, transmitted from the Hebrew to Greek.  Now, how "big" a picture can you get?

A summary is shown:

Ancient Petitions A Transition Period

The records of the English nation expanded greatly after Edward I. English vernacular was the common speech, but the language of the realm was French. [William I brought this language with him, and it became the signal of prestige for this new society and culture.] Latin remained the principle language of religion and learning. When King John lost control of the Norman's French territories, the statues of French went south, and by Henry III, English words in Latin case were the norm for Norman courts of the day. Edward I brought this French-Latin-English [actually old English, Anglo-Saxon], to front page, and a transition to the English language began. It was not until 1365 that the Mayor and Alderman of London ordered court proceedings to be held in English. In 1362, the Chancellor opened Parliament in English. Thus a transition period between the French and English languages was taking place during the castle building time of Edward I. These early records have been abstracted for the surname JONES before 1327. The surname JONES does not appear! The spelling of John occurs in a variety of forms which demonstrate this transition period. They are as follows: 1) Ivens [Robert de Ivens], 2) Jeaen [Roderigo de Jeaen of Spain], 3) Jevan [Eynon ap Jevan...multiple listings], 4) John [John ap Meredith...multiple listings], and 5) Jehon, Johan, John, [all three spellings listed together]. The system of names appear multiple times indicating that the Welsh had come under the English legal system. Names such as "Rhys ap Jevan", "Griffith ap Madoc ap Jevan", "Rhys ap Griffith ap Llewellyn ap Jevan", and "Eynon ap Jevan" appear. Likewise, "Jevan ap Cadogan", "Jevan ap Hywel", "Jevan ap Thlegat", and "Jevan ap Traharen" appear. The name John appears in this context as "John ap Hopkyn", "John ap Meredith", and "John ap Rhys" . On the English side, the name John is listed as "John of Eltham, son of Edward II", "John, son of Henry IV", and "John of Gaunt". The name Elis de Joneston is the only spelling that contains JONES. [This information is abstracted from an Index of Ancient Petitions, Great Britain Public Records Office, List and Indexes. Kraus Reprint Corporation, New York, 1963. Titled: "Index of Ancient Petitions, Generally before Edward III (1327-1377)] This documentation has been published in The Jones Genealogist, Vol. V, No. 4, Nov/Dec 1993.

The Domesday Book and John

Understanding the JONES surname, begins with the understanding of the use of the Christian name JOHN. The earliest written records of the Norman Conquest, give a resource to explore this name among the culture of the day.

In 1086, William I ordered a survey of his conquered lands. This was carried out by seven or eight panels of commissioners, each working a separate group of counties. Each commissioner compiled elaborate accounts of the estates of the King and of his "tenants in chief", those who held their land by direct services to him. The survey covered all the counties of England (not Wales) except Northumberland, Durham, Westmorland, Cumberland, and northern Lancashire. It does not include London. It does provide historical and geographical materials collected by shires, hundreds, and villages. This survey represented the new Norman concept of a feudal society based on the honour or barony, a network of estates that were treated as a unit even if not adjacent.

For genealogist it also provides a rich history of names and the use of names. For JONES tree climbers it clearly shows that the use of the surname JONES did not exist in Norman England. The name JOHN appears, but it is not the most common name utilized in this survery. The first figure (show as page -4-) documents the use of the name JOHN in the Domesday records. Its use is recorded approximately 31 times. For comparison, William is recorded 494 times, Richard 114, Edward 69, and Henry 27 times. Other commonly used names were Robert > 600 listings, Roger > 400 listings, and Hugh > 400 listings. It is also of interest to note that the surname (first name followed by a second was being used during this period. However, the use of only one name (i.e., Richard), followed by the use of a name with some title (i.e., Richard of Warwick) was more widely employed. The Welsh spellings of John of the use of "ap John" was not found in the Domesday listings.

The second figure, listed as page -5-, shows a summary for the name JOHN, and how it was used at the taking of the Domesday Book. Twelve times the name JOHN was used without characterization. Eighteen times, the name JOHN was characterized by an additional term, or series of terms, i.e., "John the chamberlain". It also gives the counties in which the name JOHN appears.

The first number shown in each reference is the chapter number, followed by the entry number. The reference is: "Domesday Book: A Survey of the Counties of England." Winchester, England, 1086. In, Domesday Book, #37, Index of Persons. Edited, Dodgson & Palmer, Phillimore, 1992. Known as "The Phillimore Domesday Series", the series of books are arranged by counties.

From: The Jones Genealogist, Vol.IV, No.,5, March/April, 1993.

How do you spell JOHN

The following is a chronological account of the spelling of JOHN. Starting with the Hebrew language around 970 B.C., it has been spelled differently in many languages throughout the world. The Greek's were the second language having translated the Hebrew's sacred writings into Greek at Alexandria in the third century before the Christian era. [Called the Septuagint.] Of course the Roman Empire followed the Greeks, and their Latin took over the world. This was followed by many other languages throughout the Empire as Christianity became the Western World's official religion. It was Christianity that brought the name JOHN to our little Island.

Hebrew (900 B.C.) = Yohanan = Johanan

Greek (400 B.C.) = Ioannes = Ioannhn = Joannes

Latin (100 B.C.) = Ioan = Johannes

After Christianity introduced:

French (old) = Johan = Jehan = Jan

French (later) = Jean = Jeanno

Gaelic = Iain = Ian

Irish = Sean = Shawn

Welsh = Sion

Scotch = Jock

Russian = Ivan

Polish = Jan

Spanish = Juan

Dutch = Jan

Hungarian = Janos

Slavonic = Janez = Jovan

Italian = Giovanni

Middle English = Jon

Modern English = John

So how do you spell JOHN?