Origin & History

Patronymic surname meaning 'son of Jon', the Swedish contracted form of Johan — itself from Latin 'Johannes' and Hebrew 'Yohanan' (God is gracious). Jon emerged as a shortened everyday form of Johan in Sweden, particularly in rural and northern regions, and Jonsson consequently arose alongside Johansson as a parallel patronymic from the same source name. The surname is especially frequent in the provinces of Norrland and Dalarna. In Iceland, the cognate Jonsson remains a living patronymic rather than a fixed surname.