habitational name, deriving in most cases from the
place so called in Annandale, in Dumfriesshire. This is derived from
the genitive case of the personal name John + Middle English
tone, toun ‘settlement’ (Old English
tun). There are other places in Scotland so called,
including the city of Perth, which used to be known as St. John’s
Toun, and some of these may also be sources of the surname.
variant of Johnson (see John), with intrusive
-t-.
Dictionary of American Family Names, Oxford University Press, ISBN 0-19-508137-4
Start your FREE family tree. Who will you discover?
A family tree is the easiest way to start discovering your family history. To begin, just enter whatever you know and we'll use that to try and find more information for you.
Begin your family tree with your name:
The johnston name in History
A unique volume of fascinating facts, statistics and commentary following the johnston family name as far back in history as possible.
Member Connections
Anonymously contact one of the Ancestry members researching the johnston last name.