User:Thomas Watson Johnson IV

Thomas Watson Johnson IV Joined the United States Navy on December 2004 and is currently serving in the Navy.

The name Johnson is an English, Scottish or Irish patronymic first name of Anglo-Saxon language origin. The name itself is a patronym of the given name John, literally meaning "son of John." The name John derives from Latin Johannes, which is derived through Greek Ioannes, from Hebrew Yohanan meaning "Jehovah has favoured". The name was extremely popular in Europe since the Christian era, as a result of it being given to St. John the Baptist, St. John the Evangelist and nearly one thousand other Christian saints.[3]

The name Johnson has had many historical spelling variations such as: Jonessone 1287, 1296; Jonesone 1321; Johnson, Johanson, Jonson 1379; Geynson 1595; Jeynson 1667.[4]

In Ireland, the surname can also be an Anglicisation of the Gaelic Mac Seáin (MacShane). Seán is a Gaelicisation of the Norman-French Jean. The MacShanes were a branch of the O'Neills of Tyrone.

In North America, the surname Johnson has absorbed many derivatives of this patronym from European languages.[3] It is the second most common family name in the United States after Smith. During the 1990 census, approximately 0.81% of people counted had this family name.