John
JAHN
A classic biblical name meaning “the Lord’s grace.”
Meaning
John comes from the Hebrew Yohanan, meaning “the Lord is gracious” or “the Lord’s grace.” In the Christian tradition it was transmitted through Greek and Latin into English, and it became one of the most enduring biblical names in the English-speaking world. The excerpts specifically gloss it as “the Lord’s grace.”
Origin
HebrewGreekEnglishmasculine
Fun fact
It also generated many nicknames and related forms, including Jack, which the excerpt notes as a diminutive chain through Jan.
Confidence: mixed. Sources: History of Christian Names, Praenomina; or, the etymology of the principal Christian names of Great Britain and Ireland.