English abbreviation of John [q.v.] or, possibly, Jonathan [q.v.].

This abbreviation occurs significantly often in the 1841 Census of Aberdeenshire. It is believed by some sources to be an abbreviation only of Jonathan, not of John. However this is certainly not true in northern Scotland where Jonathan occurs far less often than John [less than 0.4% in Aberdeenshire in 1841] whereas Jno is reasonably frequent.

We have found examples of the abbreviation Jno being used for John in other records in Aberdeenshire and would welcome any evidence about the use of this abbreviation. Please use the "Contact Us" button on this screen if you have an official source or anecdotal evidence.

A correspondent [J-AC] has found "Jno." used as an abbreviation for John in colonial New England, USA. In addition, we have recently found a reference in Rathen, Aberdeenshire parish records of a 1794 marriage of a Jno CARLE who, in 1809, is noted as John when recording the birth of his child.

FreeREG gives Jno as an abbreviation of Johannes, the Latin version of John in old documents.