About the Johnson surname

People started using the Johnson surname after the Norman conquest of 1066. An area near the border of Britain and Scotland was called Johnstown. Many of the people living there assumed variations of this surname. The Johnson people were constantly fighting to defend their lands. Consequently, the earned a reputation as a warring tribe and moved around a lot. They lived in well fortified buildings.

The surname Johnson is a combination of the name Jonh and the suffix son. The English meaning of John is "son of John (gift of God)." The name John derives from the Latin Johannes, which is derived from the Hebrew Yohanan meaning "Jehovah as favoured." The suffix meaning "son" creates several variations of the Johnson surname:

• English son
• Norwegian sen
• German sohn
• Swedish sson

Jones is the common Welsh version, while Johnson may be an Anglicization of the Gaelic surname MacSeain or MacShane.

variants

• Johnston
• Jonson
• Jonsen
• Johanson
• Johnstone
• Johnsson
• Johannsan
• MacShane
• McShane
• McSeain
• Jones

sources

• http://genealogy.about.com/od/surname_meaning/p/johnson.htm
• http://www.makemyfamilytree.com/surnames/johnson_family_surname_history.html

from Patricia Jane Maher