"JOHN'S" BECAME "JONES."
Jones is the commonest surname in Wales. Yet there is no "j" in the Welsh language. "Jones" is a modification of John's. John (the commonest Christian name in Wales, as, no doubt, it is also in England) is in Welsh "loan," James is "lago," and so on. loan, being too good a name for common or everyday use, was promptly turned into Shon, and as the Welsh had but one way of distinguishing between the,various Shone — by calling them Shon ap (son of) Hugh, Shon ap William, etc. —there were naturally a large number who were Shon ap Shon. Intercourse with the English introduced the sound "jay," which previously had never been heard in the land, and, the letter J representing the sound. Shon became John. When there arrived the psychological moment for surnames to be the order of the day, the "ap" was dropped and the Jones family "arrived."
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Bibliographic details
Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 7 (Supplement)
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153"JOHN'S" BECAME "JONES." Auckland Star, Volume LXIV, Issue 117, 20 May 1933, Page 7 (Supplement)
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