Meaning of name: John

Meaning of name: John

JOHN

Origin: English

Gender: Masculine

Usage: English, Biblical

Pronounced: JAHN 

English form of Iohannes, the Latin form of the Greek name Ιωαννης (Ioannes), itself derived from the Hebrew name יוֹחָנָן (Yochanan) meaning "YAHWEH is gracious". This name owes its popularity to two New Testament characters, both highly revered saints. The first was John the Baptist, a Jewish ascetic who was considered the forerunner of Jesus Christ. The second was the apostle John, who was also traditionally regarded as the author of the fourth Gospel and Revelation.

This name was initially more common among Eastern Christians in the Byzantine Empire, but it flourished in Western Europe after the First Crusade. In England it became extremely popular: during the later Middle Ages it was given to approximately a fifth of all English boys.

The name (in various spellings) has been borne by 21 popes and eight Byzantine emperors, as well as rulers of England, France, Sweden, Denmark, Poland, Portugal, Bulgaria, Russia and Hungary. It was also borne by the poet John Milton (1608-1674), philosopher John Locke (1632-1704), American founding father and president John Adams (1735-1826), and poet John Keats (1795-1821). Famous bearers of the 20th century include author John Steinbeck (1902-1968), assassinated American president John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), and musician John Lennon (1940-1980).

Jerry Blogger / CC BY-ND 3.0

John Bolz died

John Bolz died in May when his car crashed into an electric pole. He was driving a 2005 Chevrolet when he crashed into a pole and died in the accident. The accident wasn’t harsh enough to actually kill someone but it seems that he was caught in a very bad and critical position during the impact. The incident was truly tragic and the whole nation got suddenly interested in the news.

There is a very strange thing about the way the accident happened. Usually in a situation where a car is found crashed into a pole or tree there is almost always the case of a drunk or disoriented driver who gets swirled out of control due to confrontation with other traffic. In this case there are skid marks on the road indicating the point of the drift. In John Bolz’s case however, there were absolutely no skid marks and according to the investigations the car simply strayed off the road and collided with the pole straight out. This is very weird because this usually happens when something happens to the driver before the accident, like losing consciousness.

It is thus presumed that John Bolz fell asleep while driving his car and collided with the pole. This presumption also supports the fact that the impact hit his critical organs with enough force to kill him, because he wasn’t able to brace himself due to the drowsiness. There are a lot of people at different forums where the news was first published and all paid their respects to John Bolz.

Jerry Blogger / CC BY-ND 3.0