English and Welsh: from the Middle English personal name Jon(e) (see John ), with genitival or post-medieval excrescent -s. The surname is especially common in Wales and southern central England. It began to be adopted as a non-hereditary surname in some parts of Wales from the 16th century onward, but did not become a widespread hereditary surname there until the 18th and 19th centuries. In North America, this surname has absorbed various cognate and like-sounding surnames from other languages. It is (including in the sense 2 below) the fifth most frequent surname in the US. It is also very common among African Americans and Native Americans.

English: habitational or occupational name for someone who lived or worked ‘at John's (house)’.