Where did the name Johnson come from? What is their coat of arms? When did the Johnson family first arrive in the United States? Where did the various branches of the family go? What is the history of the family name?

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Johnson Coat of Arms and Name History

Johnson

Origin Displayed: Scottish

Origins Available: Danish, English, Scottish, Swedish

Spelling variations of this family name include: Jonsoom, Jonstoombe, Johnson, Johnstome, Jonstoom, Jonstoomb, Johnstolm, Jonsome, Johnstume, Jonstolm, Jonsolm, Jonstum, Jonstome, Jonsom, Jonsum, Jonstume, Jonsomb, Jonsombe, Jonsoombe, Jonsoomb and many more.

First found in Dumfries (now part of the region of Galloway), where they held they barony of John's Town.

Some of the first settlers of this family name or some of its variants were: Archibald Johnston, who settled in the Barbados with his two sons and servants in 1680; George Johnston, who came to New England in 1685; John Johnstone, who arrived in New Jersey in 1685.

Motto Translated: Never unprepared.

Suggested Readings for the name Johnson
The Johnson Family by Ruby Wiedman, Some Johnsons of Southern Maryland by Leona A. Cryer, Those Handy Nordics by Ethel Marie Johnson Taylor, The Descendants of William and John Johnson.

Some noteworthy people of the name Johnson

Robert Johnson (1911-1938), influential American blues singer and guitarist
Michael Johnson (b. 1967), American gold medal winning sprinter
Carol Diahann Johnson (b. 1935), original name of American Diahann Carroll
Caryn Johnson (b. 1950), original name of American Whoopi Goldberg
James Price Johnson (1894-1955), African-American pianist and composer
Richard Johnson, American archer
Allen Johnson, American athlete
Merle Johnson (b. 1936), original name of Troy Donahue
Lucy Johnson (1922-1990), American actress who grew famous under her stage name Ava Gardner
Walter Johnson (1887-1946), original name of the Big Train
Magic Johnson (b. 1959), American basketball player
James Louis "JJ" Johnson (b. 1924), American jazz musician
Colonel Gregory H Johnson (b. 1962), American pilot of the Space Shuttle Endevour on mission STS-123
President Andrew Johnson (1808-1875), seventeenth President of the United States (1865–1869), succeeding to the Presidency upon the assassination of Abraham Lincoln
Cahrles Van Johnson (1916-2008), American film and television actor and dancer, a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during World War II
Luis Encinas Johnson (b. 1912), Mexican lawyer
Hewlett Johnson (1874-1966), English clergyman, Dean of Manchester and later Dean of Canterbury
Amy Johnson (1903-1941), English pioneering long-distance aviator
Dame Celia Johnson (1908-1982), English actress
President Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973), 36th President of the United States
Pamela Hansford Johnson (1912-1981), English novelist
Bunk Johnson (1879-1949), jazz musician
Elizabeth McCardle Johnson (1810-1876), 22nd First Lady of the United States and the wife of President Andrew Johnson
Holly Johnson, English pop singer
Claudia Alta "Lady Bird" Johnson (1912-2007), First Lady of the United States from 1963 to 1969
Private Elden H Johnson, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1944
Colonel Leon W Johnson, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1943
Sergeant Leroy Johnson, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1944
Sergeant Oscar G Johnson, who was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor in 1944
Molly Johnson, Canadian Juno Award-winning singer-songwriter of pop and jazz. She is considered one of Canada's greatest voices and in 2007, she was made an Officer of the Order of Canada

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Coats of Arms: the Heraldic Artist
Coats of Arms: Timeline
Coats of Arms: Elements
Family Crests and Genealogy: how they relate

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