Origins of the Jones surname

What does the name Jones mean?

A popular surname, Jones originated in Wales, where it remains the most common in the country today (5.75% of the population), the second most popular in England (0.75%) and fifth in the United States. Jones derives from the patronymic Welsh naming tradition and describes someone who is the son of Ioan, John or Johan. Upon the Anglicisation of names in Wales in the 1500s, the descriptive stuck and was passed from generation to generation from this point forwards. Although a name based root has no single point of origin to trace back to, it's of interest that those families who derived from the 'son of John', the surname Jones is firmly Welsh; in England the name Johnson as opposed to Johns or John was overwhelmingly used.

Alternative variations of the name Jones

Jones, Jonas, Jone, Joans, Johns, John

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Delve deeper into the Jones family's history

OrkneyShetlandHighlandsWestern IslesGrampianTaysideCentralStrathclydeFifeLothianBordersDumfriesNorth East 5627North West 19527Isle of Man 316Yorkshire 11420East Midlands 2745West Midlands 21475East 6607London 56456South East 13393South West 72875South Wales 22614Mid Wales 18237West Wales 1737North Wales 28910Republic of IrelandNorthern Ireland

In 1921, most Joneses lived in south-west

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Interesting facts about Jones

How common is your surname?

2nd most common surname in the UK

We have for the Jones surname. The oldest one dates back to 1220.

Who were Joneses most likely to marry?

Our tell us which families married Joneses.

What are the most common Jones first names?

John

William

Mary

Elizabeth

Our tell us the names of Jones family members
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Census records provide incredible detail on names, ages, marital statuses, occupations and more.

Common jobs for Joneses

Men and women often performed different types of jobs, so these are displayed by gender to maintain their historical accuracy.

Commmon female occupations for Joneses in 1921

Dressmaker

16,918

General Servant Domestic

10,657

Domestic Servant

10,285

House Servant

10,213

General Servant

9,486

Commmon male occupations for Joneses in 1921

Coal Miner

25,429

Farmer

19,318

Coal Miner Hewer

12,648

General Labourer

12,041

Agricultural Labourer

11,493

We found over 1,700,000 family trees with the Jones surname

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