John is a
masculine given name in the
English language. The name is derived from the
Latin Ioannes and
Iohannes, which are forms of the
Greek name
Ioannes , originally borne by
Hellenized Jews transliterating the
Hebrew name
Yohanan , "
Graced by Yah", or , "
Yahweh is Gracious". There are numerous forms of the name in different languages; these were formerly often simply translated as "John" in English but are increasingly left in their native forms (see sidebar).