Given name & surname
Johnston
“John's town”
Johnston is a surname, meaning “John's town.”
Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1914. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Johnston through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 512
- 512 boys · 0 girls
- Most popular year
- 2007
- 18 babies
- 2025
- 7
- #10,156 for boys
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +29%
- Rising
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 7 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 10,156 among boys’ names. The recent annual counts are too incomplete to establish a ten-year comparison. Its largest published annual count for boys was 18 in 2007. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 563 as a first name in 2020; 126,068 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Johnston’s family of names
In English usage, Johnston as a surname has a related form in Johnson. In English usage, Johnston as a surname has a related form in JOHNSTONE. In Greek usage, Johnston is a transliteration of Τζόνστον.
Inner ring: spellings · outer: nicknames and forms.
Nicknames & forms 2
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
People named Johnston
- Johnston McCulleyAmerican writer (1883-1958)
- Johnston MurrayAmerican politician (1902-1974)
- Johnston CornishAmerican politician (1858-1920)
- Johnston Forbes-RobertsonBritish actor (1853-1937)
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Johnston, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Jayson
Jayson is a masculine given name. It is used in English and Cebuano.
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“dove”
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Josue
“God . is salvation” · “God is salvation”
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Jaiden
Jaiden is a unisex given name.
95% boys · 5% girls
Jaxton
Jaxton is a masculine given name.
>99% boys
Julien
Julien is a form of Julian. One Greek interpretation is “the child of Jove; one who is vouthful Julien, Julira.uscant eni Jaun., ilano blyon,.”
98% boys · 2% girls
Jaden
“resembling the green gemstone”
97% boys · 3% girls
Preston
“from the priest's town”
99% boys · 1% girls