A patronymic surname meaning "son of Jan" (gift of God), from the given name Jan, a vernacular form of the Latin Johannes (John), which is derived from the Hebrew Yohanan meaning "Jehovah has favoured." This usage is similar to the English surname Johnson, and a variant of the even more common Dutch surname Jansen.
The last name Janssen is one of the most common surnames in the Netherlands, based on statistics from both 2007 and 1947.
The largest concentrations of the Janssen surname, spelled with the double -ss- are found in Gelderland, Limburg and Noord-Brabant.
Surname Origin:
Dutch
Alternate Surname Spellings:
JANSSENS, HANSSEN, JANISSEN
Famous People with the Surname Janssen:
- Paul Janssen - innovative pharmaceutical researcher and founder of Janssen Pharmaceutica
- Casey Janssen - American professional baseball pitcher for the Toronto Blue Jays
- Famke Janssen - Amsterdam-born actress best known for her roles in GoldenEye and the X-Men trilogy.
Genealogy Resources for the Surname JANSSEN
FamilySearch - JANSSEN Genealogy
Find records, queries, and lineage-linked family trees posted for the Janssen surname.
Surname Finder - JANSSEN Genealogy & Family Resources
Find links to free and commercial resources for the Janssen surname.
Cousin Connect - JANSSEN Genealogy Queries
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DistantCousin.com - JANSSEN Genealogy & Family History
Free databases and genealogy links for the last name Janssen.
MyCinnamonToast.com - JANSSEN Genealogy in All Regions
Centralized search results for family trees and other genealogy info on the Janssen surname.
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References: Surname Meanings & Origins
Centre of Onomastics, Meertens Instituut. Nederlandse Familienamenbank, 2007.
Cottle, Basil. Penguin Dictionary of Surnames. Baltimore, MD: Penguin Books, 1967.
Hanks, Patrick and Flavia Hodges. A Dictionary of Surnames. Oxford University Press, 1989.
Hanks, Patrick. Dictionary of American Family Names. Oxford University Press, 2003.
Smith, Elsdon C. American Surnames. Genealogical Publishing Company, 1997.
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