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Dictionary of Medieval Names
from European Sources

Johnson m. English 'son of John', originally a byname.

The use of surnames as given names became increasingly more common in England from the middle of the 16th C.

England
Early Modern English
1597 Johnson DEmar-vol2 p. 36
Cite as: S.L. Uckelman. "Johnson". In S.L. Uckelman, ed. The Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, Edition 2016, no. 3. http://dmnes.org/2016/3/name/Johnson.