John is a name that you rarely come across now. But in connection with the tendency of recent years to call children the ancient or Old Slavonic names of John, or the Russified version of Ivanna can be a good choice for a newborn girl, especially since this name has worthy patrons among the saints of the Russian Orthodox Church.
The name John comes to us from the Hebrew language. Translated into Russian, it means "bestowed by God." In Russia, the male version of the name - Ivan, has taken root more, although in pre-revolutionary times girls were often called the female version - Ivanna. John celebrates the name day twice a year - on July 10, the day of commemoration of the righteous John the Myrrh-bearer, and on December 28, when the Monk Martyr John is commemorated.
John baptized girls who in the world received the name Jan.
John the myrrh-bearer
The patroness of the name John, who is hardly mentioned in the writings of the Russian Orthodox Church, was one of the myrrh-bearing wives. She is mentioned twice in the Gospel of Luke. It was this woman who was among those who brought incense to the body of Christ and witnessed the appearance of angels, who announced the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.
Joanna was the wife of the steward of King Herod named Khuza and led a carefree and respectable life. Her husband held a great position, and the woman had no worries until their only son fell ill. Having called on Jesus Christ to heal the child, the couple did not understand why he refused to go to them. And the whole point was that it was in the palace that his Forerunner John the Baptist was killed. However, Jesus did not hide grudges and healed their sick son. When Herod learned about this, his anger fell on the shoulders of the steward. The situation was aggravated by the fact that it was John, who knew the Baptist and listened to him, who took the head of the murdered man from the hiding place and buried it in one of Herod's estates. Her husband Khuza, finding himself in a position where he could lose everything because of the anger of the king, decided that it would be less painful for him to expel his wife from the house.
Apparently, this is how John found herself among the poor and needy, wandering after Christ with faith in God in her heart. John humbly shared all the hardships of the wandering with other women, and Jesus' mother Mary wept with her for the son left behind in her husband's house, whom John never saw again.
People who study the connection between the name and the character of a person claim that John is very kind and radiate his kindness to others.
Venerable Martyr John
In the world they called her Susanna. She was the only child of the presbyter of Rome Gavania. The girl was educated, but at the same time very religious and chaste. She gave up marriage, deciding to devote her life to the service of Christ. Tsar Diocletian, who insisted on her marriage, sent to her first his wife, then his son, so that they persuaded her to marry. His son Maximilian found her in the house praying and wanted to dishonor, but he saw the radiance of an angel bending over the girl, and in fear he disappeared. Then the angry Diocletian ordered his mercenary, the sadist and torturer Macedonia, to force John to renounce her faith. He beat her with sticks in front of her family, but she was adamant. Then she was executed by beheading. This act inspired her entire family and servants to convert to Christianity.
