Where my family name came from
My family name is Johnston. When I "discovered" from a recent email from you I was told that my family originated from Scotland (the border country actually) and that the name was derived from John's village. In fact it is derived from the Gaelic John's turn which means John's farm not village.
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Reaney & Wilson, A Dictionary of English Surnames, under Johnston, Johnstone reads: (i) Caterina Jonstons 1327 SRSf. For Johnson, with intrusive t. (ii) Alan de Johannestun 1227 AssSt; Peter de Jonestone 1299 ib. From Johnson Hall (Staffordshire). (iii) Gilbert de Jonistoune 1195-1215 Black. From Johnstone in Annandale (Dumfrieshire), named from John, father of Gilbert.
Source citation abbreviations expand to: Subsidy Rolls Suffolk, Assize Rolls Staffordshire, same source as previous, Black: The Surnames of Scotland.
Ekwall, The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names, under Johnson Hall reads: Staffordshire [Johannestun 1227 Assize Rolls]. 'John's TŪN.'
The same source writes: "OE tūn originally denoted 'fence' (compare German Zaun) or 'enclosure', but must at an early date have developed the meaning 'enclosure round a house, toft', whence 'homestead', 'village' and 'town'."
In other words, even as just an English surname, Johnston has several possible origins, but Gaelic isn't among them. (This is not surprising when you consider that the Gaelic forms of John are Eóin and Sean.)
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also check out this similar thread:
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Whilst it is obviously quite possible that JOHNSTON and JOHNSON could have become alternative / interchangeable spellings over a period of time, my experience with my own surname indicates separate, similar looking names can remain untouched by the "variant" factor.
My own surname WRIGHTSON (literally, son of the wright) has only occasionally been transcribed as WRIGHTON and rarely found in the latter form in any original documents. WRIGHTSON is found predominantly in Yorkshire and the north east of England, whereas WRIGHTON (origin unknown) is found in Northamptonshire and other counties in the English midlands.
With regards to JOHNSTON, I believe it probably nearly always indicates a Scottish connection, but would be prepared to accept its origins could lie in either of the cases referenced.
In general, surname dictionaries can contain very unreliable information and a former head of the Society of Genealogists once advised to disregard much of their content. Whilst Reaney & Wilson does intend to be one of the more reliable, I have found it contains a number of poor suggestions, regarding names in my family branches and unconnected ones.
In summary, I'd keep an open mind on the subject, as it is unlikely most researchers will ever be able to trace their family surname(s) back to their true origin. In your case, in discovering where your "first" JOHNSTON ancestor came from, exactly how his name was "originally" spelt, and/or why he adopted the name that has been passed down through many generations (possibly with variant spellings, over this very long period).
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Although not entirely relevant to this specific issue, I find the comments of @Dennis Yancey at https://community.familysearch.org/en/discussion/126600/feedback-on-activities-surname-origin-from-dictionary-of-american-family-names#latest really put the whole "meaning / origin of surnames" topic in its true perspective. I feel his comments also give strong backing to the idea that FamilySearch should discontinue sending these emails, which often cause upset or confusion to its users.
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