English from Hebrew "Jehovah's gift"; OT 1 Chronicles 10:2, 1 Samuel 31, 2 Samuel 1:19-26.

The Hebrew derivation is very closely aligned to that of Matthew but with the elements reversed. It does not appear to be from the same etymology as John but there is a significant usage of John as a diminutive of Jonathan.

There are a number of spellings of this name - or variations in transcriptions - which differ mainly in the vowels. These should all be found by normal Soundex searches but care should be taken over the insertion of an "h" which may confound the searching process.