Johnson

Where Johnson comes from

A patronymic surname from John + -son, literally “son of John”. * In the U.S. the name Johnson has been adopted by numerous European immigrant families originally named Johansson, Johnsson, Johansen, Jonsson, etc. * Doublet of Johansson, Johansen, Jansen, and Hansen.
— Wiktionary's entry for Johnson
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #505 among boys — 13 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1905
    Peak, #322
    38 babies named Johnson — more than any year before or since.
  3. 1907
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #634.
  4. 1924
    Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi born
    Nigerian Military Leader
  5. 1946
    Johnson Toribiong born
    Palauan politician and diplomat, president from 2009 to 2013
In the dictionary
  • A male given name transferred from the surname.
Namesakes
  • Johnson Aguiyi-Ironsi · Nigerian Military Leader, 1924–1966
  • Johnson Toribiong · Palauan politician and diplomat, president from 2009 to 2013, born 1946
  • Johnson Beharry · British Army officer, born 1979
  • Johnson Hagood · Confederate Army general and Governor of South Carolina, 1829–1898
  • Johnson Newlon Camden · American politician, 1828–1908

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.