Johnstone. Shortly after 1174 John the founder of the family of Johnstone, gave his name to his lands in Annandale, Dumfriesshire, whence his son Gilbert took his surname. "Who John, the father of Gilbert, was it is now perhaps impossible to determine. He may have been a native settler who, when the Bruces were made lords of Annandale, elected to hold his lands from them, or, as seems most likely, he followed his overlords from their Yorkshire, or more southern, estates, and was gifted with the lands to which he gave his name, and which, later, formed the parish and barony of Johnstone" (Sc. Peer., I, p. 231). Gilbert, son of John, appears in charters granted by William, lord of Annandale, 1195—1215. Within the same period he is also styled Gilbertus de Jonistoune, "thus in a brief space showing both the patronymic and the territorial surname" (ibid., p. 230). Gilbert, son of John, witnessed a charter by William Bruce to Adam de Carlyle between 1194 and 1214, and as Gillebertus de Jonistune he witnessed a charter of the lands of Pennersaughs within the same period (Annandale, I, p. 2, 3). Robertas de Jonistoun witnessed a charter by Gilbert of Glencarny to Duncan of Feryndrawcht, c. 1281—98 (Grant, III, p. 7). Johan de Jonestone, knight of the county of Dunfrys, Gilbert de Jonestone of Dumfriesshire, and Thomas de Jonestone of Roxburghshire, rendered homage, 1296. The seal of Johan shows a shield with two garbs and a canton dexter over a third; charges indistinct, S' lohis de lonestone militis, while the seal of Gilbert is a gem bearing a head in profile, S' Gilberti de lonestovn (Bain, II, p. 185,200, 202,549). Stephen de Johnston, called the Clerk, said to have been a younger brother of the laird of Annandale, was secretary to Thomas, earl of Mar who died in 1377 (Inverurie, p. 453). Aye (= Adam) Jonson was present at the perambulation of the bounds of Kyrknes and Louchor, 1395 (RPSA., p. 3), and William Jonson of Mourthull was one of the assizors on the marches of Woodwrae, 1388 (Bamff, p. 22). Andrew Johnson (for Johnston) called "Schaklok" was admitted burgess of Aberdeen, 1436 (NSCM., I, p. 4), and Adam of Jonstoun was one of the conservators of the truce between Scotland and England, 1451 (Bain, IV, 1239). John Johnston alias Jonston a native of the vill of Jonstone in Scotland, received letters of denization in England, 1463, and Adam of Johnston, Robin of Johnston, Gilbert of Johnston, and Mathewe of Johnstone, who petitioned for safe conducts to travel in England in the same year (Bain, IV, 1335, 1340), probably derived their surnames from Perth which was often named Johnstoun or St. Johnstoun in record. Another territorial family of Johnstones took their name from the lands of Jonystoun, now Johnstonburn, an estate in the parish of Humbie, East Lothian. Hugh de Jonystoun witnessed a charter of these lands to the House of Soltre (Soutra), c. 1250 (Solfre, p. 31). Between 1296 and 1324 John de Jonystoun "quondam filius Hugonis de Jonystoun" resigned to Soltre "totam terram meam de Jonystoun cum omnibus libertatibus et aysiamentis" (ibid., p. 40). Robert Johnnston alias "Ding the Devill" in record, 1609 (RPC., VIII, p. 778). In former days the Johnstones formed one of the most powerful and turbulent clans of the West Border, and were at constant feud with their neighbors, especially the Maxwells, hence probably their ironical description, "the gentle Johnstones." Jhonestowne 1609, Jhonstoun 1616, Johanstoun 1450, Johnestoun 1493, Johnestoune 1530, Johngston 1736, Johnnesone 1530, Johnnestoun 1608, Johnnestoune 1558, Johnnstoun 1503, Johnstounne 1575, Joneston 1245, Jonhesone 1491, Jonhstone 1499, Joniston 1329, Jonstoun 1683.

Scottish version of Johnson.

(Scottish) The man from Johnston (John's manor), in Dumfriesshire; also confused with Johnson, q.v.

Posttowns and parishes in Dumfriesshire and Renfrewshire. For a local surname this is exceedingly common, there being between sixty and seventy traders bearing it in Lond. Direct. It is often confounded with Johnson.

Local: from the village of Johnstoun in Renfrewshire. The family are descended from Hugo de Johnstone, temp. Alexander II.

(Scotch), John's town. (variant: Ralston.)

Johnston, a common family name in the south of Scotland and on the Scottish border, is the name of a town in Renfrewshire and of a parish of Dumfriesshire.

The surname Johnson has two main subdivisions-one with, and one without, the intrusive ‘t’ (as in Johnstone). Both of these subdivisions have a wide variety of different spellings. The former often means ‘son of John’, while those variations with the ‘t’ often refer to places-‘tons’ named after John, notably in Scotland. In practice (and often in spelling) it is easy to see how the ‘t’ got lost in pronouncing the name.

The first name John derives from the Ancient Hebrew name Jochanaan, meaning ‘God is gracious’. In its Latin form the name Johannes came west with the returning Crusaders, and during the twelfth and thirteenth centuries it spread all over Europe. Doubtless it was assisted by the popularity of St John the Baptist and St John the Divine (author of the Book of Revelations).

As the name Johannes crossed national and linguistic borders, it became changed into many local variants. In Germany it became Hans, in Holland Jan, in France Jean, in Ireland Sean (pronounced Shawn), and in Scotland Jock.

Early reference to Johnsons began appearing in the English records around the thirteenth century. One John Jonessone appears in the Ancient Deeds for Surrey in 1287. Variations with the intrusive middle ‘t’ appeared early on to denote ‘John from the place (‘ton’ or ‘tun’)’. One Alan de Johannestun appears in the Assize Rolls for Staffordshire in 1227. The variations with the intrusive ‘t’ are more common in the north of England and in Scotland.

In some rare cases the name Johnstone may be a local name deriving from places in Staffordshire and Dumfriesshire (the second syllable in this case being Old English). It is also just possible that this name is a local name for a man from Perth which used to be called St Johnstone (as its football team still is).

The name Johnson is related to the surname Evans (which also means, literally, ‘the dependant of John’-see Evans) and also in this way to many widely differing names-from Jackson to Jones. Jack, like Jenkin, Hankin and Hancock, was a common pet form of John.

Andrew Johnson (1808—75) was the seventeenth President of the United States. He purchased Alaska from the Russians for just $7,200,000 in 1867.

The three founders of the firm of Rolls-Royce were the Hon. C.S. Rolls, Mr F. Henry Royce and Mr Claude Johnson. Having at first contemplated calling the car the Rolls-Royce- Johnson, they decided that it somehow lacked zip and the name Johnson was dropped.

The 1889 flood in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, ranks amongst the world’s all-time disasters. When the South Fork Dam broke after excessive rain, the 450-acre lake vanished in under 40 minutes as a 70-foot-high wall of water roared through the town at over 15 miles per hour. One in 10 of the citizens (well over 2,000 people) was killed and the town was virtually levelled. Johnstown was rebuilt, but in 1977 a freak storm deposited 9 inches of rain in 8 hours and the Laurel Run dam broke, releasing over 100 million gallons of water with the resultant deaths of 77 people, totally destroyed over 500 houses and caused over $200 million in damage.

Famed aviatrix Amy Johnson (1903—41) captured the imagination of the nation with her record-breaking solo flight to Australia in 1930-so much so that the song ‘Wonderful Amy, How Can You Blame Me for Loving You?’ was the smash hit of the year.

Samuel Johnson (1709—84) took a mere eight years (1747— 55) to write his famous dictionary of the English language.

The United Kingdom has towns named Johnston, Johnstone and Johnstone Bridge, Canada has a Johnsen’s Crossing and a Johnstown, New Zealand has a Johnsonville, and there are also Johnstowns in the United States (4) and Ireland (2). There is a Johnson Island off the coast of Chile, a Johnson’s Point in Antigua, and a Johnson mountain range as well as a group of lakes in Australia.

With about 231,000 namesakes Johnson is the 10th most popular surname in England and Wales. There are over 29,000 Johnstons in Scotland where the name is 12th in popularity. In Ireland it is estimated that, with about 16,000 Johnsons, it is the 33rd most popular surname. Johnson is notably popular in and around Teesside where an estimated one in about 160 families bears the name; it is also popular in Edinburgh (one in 195). Around the world Johnsons and Johnstons are most common in Vancouver (one in 183 families), Sydney (one in 224) and Canberra (one in 228). The United States has more Johnsons and Johnstons than the entire population of Clydeside-an estimated total of just over 2,053,000 makes this their 2nd most popular surname.