Topics

• About the St.john One-Name Study
• Variants
• Origin of the surname
• Historical occurrences
• Frequency of the name
• Data
• Contact Details

About the St.john One-Name Study

I began this study in 2005 as a result of my St. John family connections. I have discovered 'pockets' of St.Johns in Lydiard Tregoze, Swindon, Wilts., Battersea, Bletsoe, Beds, Basing and Lymington. I have a spreadsheet showing 365 St.John births from 1837 - 1867, which I am happy to give information from. I intend to update this on a regular basis.

Variants

Sinjun, St.Jean, Seynt John, Stjohn, Seint John, Sent John

Origin of the surname

The St.John Polyptych at Lydiard Tregoze began with John de St.John who is believed to have come to England with William the Conqueror but there is no evidence that anyone by that name did so. There is no record of any St.John in the Doomsday records. The St.John name's origin can be traced back to St.Jean-le-Thomas in Normandy and the de Port family originate from Port de Bessin in Normandy. This goes back to 9th Century when Normandy was still more Viking and not French.

Historical occurrences

Adam de Port's son, William, used his maternal grandmother's surname of St.John in around 1205. She was Adam's mother-in-law. Hugh de Port, Adam's great grandfather, was part of William 1's conquering force and he was rewarded by the gift of Basing, Hants, and other lands. There were 12th century St.Johns living as Lord Stantons of Oxford and their strong-hold is now called Stanton St.John. They are buried in the church.

Frequency of the name

There are 365 names registered between 1837 and 1867 inclusive.

Data

This study is in its infancy, so I welcome any information (however obscure) relating to the St.John name.

Many thanks to Sonia St.John for her help in setting up this page.

Contact details

For further information, contact:

Mrs Shirley E Smith
Rivendell,
133 Upper Shoreham Road,
Shoreham-by-Sea,
West Sussex
BN43 6TA
UNITED KINGDOM
E-mail:

This page last updated 13 January 2012.

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Profiles of other one-name studies registered with the Guild may be found here.