Why is English the only language having John as a shortened version of another name?

I more frequently see it spelled Jonathan, making the shortened version Jon; have friends who spell it that way. I think John stands alone as a name and isn't ordinarily considered a short form for anything. Unfortunately I'm not familiar enough with another language to know diminutive forms in anything but English .

i don't think it is.. but i'll let someone else think up some examples with John..

certainly in italian, there are names like "Michaelathony" that are double name.. the second half does not get a capital. and for girls, Marygrace. (some one will be kind enough to provide the proper italian spelling, i am sure)

and in english-- the femine version of John, (Joan) can also be a double name.. Joanne.

i suspect johnathan is double name.. John Nathan run together, the only one i can think of for a man's name is the Francisxavier is sometimes run together..

but as Angel pointed out.. every one is creative-- even if they only express it in creating a name.

Jean is French for John. Hans is German for John, isn't it? Beheaded Johannes?

Why is Russian the only language having Sasha as a shortened version of another name?

John / Jonathan: two distinct names.

Jonathan:
from jo - nathan, Hebrew for "God gives"
(related to Nathaniel, which is nathan-el = "gift from God")

John-with-an-h is indeed analogous to the German Hans / Johannes but comes
from jo - khanan, Hebrew for "God is merciful"

(Been there, done that. I have a son Jonathan; we've seen all kinds of well-intended alternative mis-spellings: Jonothan, Jonathon, Johnathan, Jhonathan, etc. )

Well, JTD, I was going to explain that John and Jon (short for Jonathan) are two different names and John isn't short for anything, but Wof-doc beat me to it.

John has for a long time been one of the most popular names in Christian countries/families. It takes a good many forms -- John, Jean, Johann, Iohannis, Juan, Giovanni, Johannus, etc.

Short forms of names are also interesting and numerous, and some are a bit improbable. Among my favorites are Stosh for Stanislaus, Gus for Constantinos, Kit for Christopher and there is one for Alexander which slips my mind at the moment.

*post edit: No sooner I posted this than I remembered that Sandy is a short form for Alexander.

Which leads to the question of whether any other language substitutes a man's name,like we use "john," as the euphemism for bathroom or latrine? Which I sometimes call a "jane," now, just to keep the ladies honest!

Does anyone know if this occurs in any other language but English. And does anybody know, offhand, how it came to be so?

Michelantonio ( possible, but I never heard it) and Mariagrazia..

The most famous example is certainly Michelangelo (Buonarroti) = Michele + Angelo.

Ok, this explains just about everything. And Faldage, if sasha is Russian for I'm suprised. I should hav put 'as far as I know' in the original post.

but as Angel pointed out.. every one is creative-- even if they only express it in creating a name.

Angel pointed this out in a PM tho! My mother always said, "If you can do nothing else creative in your life, you can create a name!" I was her first born, and was given the name "Kimber". My brother, on the other hand, is a Junior addition of my dad!

By the way, while we are on names, my brother has always been referred to by the family and in school as "Butch". Now as an adult and with an ex-wife who swears she couldn't pronounce Butch.....[whiter]plllllllthhh[/whiter] he is now known in the business world as "Ralph". This creates many problems, when one set of friends meets another set and they call him by two different names.

Short forms of names are also interesting and numerous, and some are a bit improbable ... Gus for Constantinos

??? I'd always thought Gus was a short form of Augustus and of Gustavus (the latter sometimes alternatively shortened to "Stav").

Query: what name has the most numerous short-forms in common use? Perhaps Elizabeth would have some ideas for us?

other forms of John include Sean (there is no j in irish--and its easy to see how the french Jean became Sean.) in scots, it went to Ian. Joan (irish, again) became Soibhan, (she vawn). it went to Ivan in some russian languages.

for alexandria, there is Alex, alexis, and sandy and lexy..

and i don't know which name forms the most nick names, but i'd vote for margaret
Marge
Margy
Meg
Maggy

Peg
Peggy
Peggeen, (as in dickens)
as well as informal ,Mags, and Mar.

Alexander is a root of many names. In Scotland Sandy (for boys) is popular. There seem to be female Sashas around but I always think of it as a boy's name.

Alexander/Alexandra – Short forms, variants and pet names
ALEXANDER (m) From the Greek name Alexandros, which meant "defending men" from Greek alexein "to defend, help" and aner "man" (genitive andros). Alexander the Great, King of Macedon, is the most famous bearer of this name. In the 4th century BC he built a huge empire out of Greece, Egypt, Persia, and parts of India. This was also the name of emperors of Russia, kings of Scotland and Yugoslavia, and eight popes.
ALASDAIR, ALASTAR, ALEC, ALECHJO, ALASDAIR, ALASTAR, ALEC, ALEJANDRA, ALEJANDRO, ALEKSANDER, ALEKSANDR, ALEKSANDRA, ALEKSANDRINA ALEKSANTERI,ALEKSI, ALESSANDRA, ALESSANDRO, ALEX, ALEXA, ALEXANDR, ALEXANDRA, ALEXANDRE, ALEXANDREA, ALEXANDRIA, ALEXANDROS, ALEXANDRU, ALISTAIR, ALISTER, ALIX, ALYX, ISKENDER, LEX, LEXA, LEXI, LEXIE, LEXINE, LEXY, MALANDRA, OLEK, OLEKSANDER, SACHA, SANDIE, SÁNDOR, SANDRA, SANDRINE, SANDRO, SANDY, SASCHA, SASHA, SENDER, XANDER, XANDRA, ZANDER, ZANDRA,
Alexius is another name but some short forms overlap :
ALEXIUS (m) "helper" or "defender" from the Greek name Alexios which derived from alexein "to defend, help". A czar of Russia has borne this name. ALEJO, ALEKSEI, ALESSIA, ALESSIO, ALESSA, ALEXA, ALEXEI, ALEXIA, ALEXINA, ALEXIS, ALEXUS, LEXA, LEXIA, LEXUS
Researched from:
http://www.behindthename.com

Does anyone know if this occurs in any other language but English. And does anybody know, offhand, how it came to be so?

I can be corrected here but I think that is is primarily a function of US English. We don't really use the boys names that have been mentioned in previous posts in everyday Br English - John, Peter etc. Terms like "Dear John" letter were originally a US term (I think). Perhaps it derives from the use of terms like "John Doe" - another term that we don't use.

Maybe RhubarbC or Maverick disagrees?

Jo

I had a friend who grew up in Britain who said that instead of John Doe, the Brits used Fred (or is it Joe?) Bloggs, which I think has a much more pleasing sound. We named one of our experimental set-ups "Mr. Bloggs" (to keep him separate from "Big Bertha", rather than calling them "the little one" and "the big one").

which I think has a much more pleasing sound

In the spirit of non-combativeness that wishes to pervade itself about the board, I'll refrain from saying that, rather than soundng pleasant, Bloggs sounds like a glomule of some rather disgusting matter has been unceremoniously deposited on my work bench.

Paraliptically Yours,
Faldage

OK, not pleasing then, interesting. The double-g also makes it interesting to look at. But maybe just because it's different from (to, than) John Doe or Joe Blow, which is what I'm used to.

I agree that it does sound a bit like a gob of something ejected during a sneeze.

Oh dear. Now you've done it; you've gone and agreed with Faldage. How is he going to continue to argue? [waiting-in-complete-faith-that-F-will-be-able-to-do-so emoticon]

I quite agree with you, my dear Bean. Doe is the sound of a mother deer basking in the sylvan paradise with her fawns gamboling about her. Bloggs is, as you say

Bloggs is, as you say

Not going to finish the sentence Faldage? Can I? As Bean said: interesting to look at. Or as I would say, just something other than John and Jane Doe that we have come to be bored with.

Glad to see that the USn's caught the whiff of irony in the name. We do use (although not exclusively) both Fred and Joe Bloggs - rhymes with cloggs for "fill the gap" names. Imagine a Monty Python Gumby complete with string vest and knotted hankerchief on the head.

Lots of different names are used. Couples would book into hotels (in the days when people cared if you were married) as Mr & Mrs Smith or Jones. The name John Smith tended to be used as "everyman" until he became the leader of the Labour Party in the early nineties.

By the way (Jackie cover your ears), I forgot that a diminutive of the name of second in line to the throne was commonly used as a part of male anatomy, although I've always regarded the diminutive of the name of a "tricky" US President as a bit of an Americanism when used here.

(from Cambridge International Dictionary of English)

bog (TOILET)
noun [C]
BRITISH AND AUSTRALIAN SLANG
a toilet

I'm just going to nip to the bog.

We've run out of bog paper/roll.

I was on to this slang term because I've been publishing in an Anglo-American journal called Bogg for the past several years that claims the same slang connotation for it's name, though I can't find a citation for the double "gg" anywhere. There's no current web page, but here's a review of Bogg and the journal's background info:

http://www.nhi.clara.net/mg0028.htm

yep, this is a very common expression in the UK! So tell me WO'N, do you share your Whitty ditties on this Bogg paper, or is it a virtual sheet?

(and btw, Jo, my take on John is exactly the same as yours for the record)

a je ne sais quoi perhaps, that John Doe lacks

And it's exactly this lack of je ne sais quoi that gives John Doe that I-don't-know-what that relieves him of even that distinction of being one of the Great Unwashed. He is blah to the nth degree.

It is with the saddest heart that we must pass on the following news. Please join us in remembering a great icon of the entertainment community. The Pillsbury Doughboy died yesterday of a yeast infection and complications from repeated pokes in the belly. He was 71. Doughboy was buried in a lightly greased coffin. Dozens of celebrities turned out to pay their respects, including Mrs. Butterworth, Hungry Jack, the California Raisins, Betty Crocker, the Hostess Twinkies, and Captain Crunch. The gravesite was piled high with flours. Aunt Jemima delivered the eulogy and lovingly described Doughboy as a man who never knew how much he was kneaded. Doughboy rose quickly in show business, but his later life was filled with turnovers. He was not considered a very "smart" cookie, wasting much of his dough on half-baked schemes. Despite being a little flaky at times, he still, as a crusty old man, was considered a roll model for millions. Doughboy is survived by his wife, Play Dough; two children, John Dough and Jane Dough; plus they had one in the oven. He is also survived by his elderly father, Pop Tart. The funeral was held at 3:50 for about 20 minutes.

Heard tell he was cremated at 6.30. Same flakey pastry puff who always had his hair micro waved?

So tell me WO'N, do you share your Whitty ditties on this Bogg paper, or is it a virtual sheet?

Well, actually, Bogg has been around as a litmag since '68, a impressive record of survival for a small press publication. It's a print-only journal. Earlier issues also included illustrations by the late Brit artist, Joe Hirst, of Yorkshire, one of the founders of Bogg (it began in England). His usually humorous drawings included many caricatures of bathrooms and privies (and occupants) in poking fun at the journal's title. George Cairncross is the UK editor; Wilga Rose (who replaced the recently deceased Robert Boyce) is contributng editor for Australia and New Zealand; and Sheila Martindale edits for Canada. John Elsberg is the publisher and edits for the US. Should be available in all places mentioned in the literary periodical racks of "good" book stores (far and between these days, it seems). I have an early issue that cites the definition for "bogg", but I can't locate it right now. If I do I'll edit it in.

And, by the way, mav...I may be whitty, but the author of Snowbound is Whittier.

And how many folks can say they've been published on bogg paper!

Ah, yes...I remember well his gigantic performance in Ghostbusters. His towering calories will be sadly missed. I'll make it a point to rent the movie again in tribute (sniff).

I used to work with a lady whose surname was Bloggs - and her first name began with J. Many people refused to take the name seriously - especially when she signed for courier pick ups at the office.

She said her Dad (Brit born from his accent) was of gypsy/Romany/traveller stock. Wonder if his people had adopted the name somewhere along the line or if it was legitimately historic?

Reminds me of a good friend here in Perth with the surname of Sneeuwjagt (pron. snee-jack in Strine). His father was a foundling in Amsterdam in the early 1900's. Left on the steps of the cathedral one wintry night, the nuns took him in and named him - sneeuwjagt is Dutch for snowdrift.

Referring back to my post in the Australian Fires thread, my friend (Sneeuwjagt junior) can claim a lot of the credit for developing and implementing the wildfire control policies and procedures here in Western Australia. He heads up this part of our state department of C.A.L.M.

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