Jones (surname)
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| Jones | |
|---|---|
| Family name | |
| Pronunciation | /ˈdʒoʊnz/ |
| Meaning | Offspring of John |
| Region of origin | Wales |
| Language(s) of origin | Middle English |
| Related names | MacSeoin |
Jones is a surname of Welsh origins, meaning "John's son". It is most common in Wales and south central England.[1][2] In Ireland the surname has been Gaelicized as MacSeoin. Similarly Jones could be an anglicised transcription of the Welsh patronym "Ap Sion" ("Ap" meaning "son of" as does the Gaelic "Mac"). The alliteration of the "pSi" in Welsh has as its nearest English sound "J". The absence of "J" in the Welsh alphabet may make this explanation more likely than "John's son" and practically identical to the Gaelic construct although the latter has not been anglicized for historic reasons.
History
It first appears on record as a surname in England in 1273 with the name "Matilda Jones".[2] Others put the first known record of the surname Jones as 1279, in Huntingdonshire, England.[3] Around the time of the union of Wales with England, the traditional Welsh system of patronymics was increasingly replaced by surnames. Furthermore, Christian names such as John which were common in England had become increasingly preferred to distinctively Welsh Christian names such as Meredudd and Llewelyn. Thus "ab Ioan" (and many variations) meaning "son of John" became the surname Jones in a large number of cases, making it a very frequently used surname.[4]
20th and 21st centuries
Jones remains the most popular surname in Wales, borne by 5.75% of the population.[5] The frequency in England is lower, at 0.75%, making it the second most common surname, after Smith.[5] The 2000 United States census provides a frequency of 0.50%, providing an overall rank of fifth most frequent with 57.7% White, 37.7% Black, 1.4% Hispanic, 0.9% Native American.[6] Jones was the fourth most common surname in the 1990 U.S. Census, behind only Smith, Johnson and Williams.[7] The popularity of the Jones surname in North America is in part owed to the use of Jones as an anglicized or shortened form of various cognate and like-sounding surnames from various European Languages.[8] These names are thought to include the German Jans, Jentz, Janz and possibly Janson, as well as the Scandinavian Jönsson, Johansen and Jonasen among some others, along with Polish Janowski, French Jean and Jacques, Irish MacSeáin, English Johnson, Spanish Jimenez and possibly Gomez, Italian Giannio, Serbian Jovanovic, Dutch Janzen and Scots Johnston (A habitational name).
See also
References
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External links
- National Trust, 2007. "What do the statistics in the geographical location and social demographic tables mean?"
- United States Census Bureau (9 May 1995). s:1990 Census Name Files dist.all.last (1-100). Retrieved on 25 February 2008.
- Yahoo! Groups R1b-L371 Y-DNA Haplogroup and the Jones surnamefr:Jones
nl:Jones ja:ジョーンズ pt:Jones (nome) ru:Джонс simple:Jones fi:Jones zh:琼斯
