60%RatingSave Gender Masculine Usage English (African) Pronounced Pron. JAHN-sən(American English) JAWN-sən(British English) [key·IPA] Meaning & HistoryExpand Links From an English surname meaning "son of John". As a given name, it is most common in English-speaking Africa. PopularityDetails Last ranked #949 in 1987 United States Categories currently out of the US top 1000, surnames