411 REFERENCE · Wiktionary
Jo
Reference material by Wiktionary contributors. This retains its source identity and is not 411 news reporting.
Appendix:Variations of "jo"
English
Pronunciation
jō
en /d͡ʒəʊ/ RP
en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Joe.wav Southern England
en LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-joe.wav US
en /d͡ʒoʊ/ GenAm
en Joe joe Zhou
en əʊ 1
Etymology 1
Clipping or hypochoristic form of various female given names beginning with Jo..., primarily en Joan, en Joanna, etc. but also en Josephine and en Jolene.
en Ivanka Jan Janelle Janet Janey Janine Jeanette Jeanie Jeannette Jeannine Jen Jenna Jenny Jessie Jody Juanita Shanae Sinead Vanna in reference to the first derivation.
Proper noun
en female.
en 1888 Marietta Holley Josiah Allen's Wife as a P.A. and P.I.: Samantha at the Centennial 577 "Its name is Samantha Jo, after Josiah and me. You know they call girls Jo and Josie a sight lately; its name is agreeable to Josiah and me, very.
en https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/us/oregon-senate-perkins-qanon.html w:The New York Times Jo Rae Perkins was carrying about 50 percent of the vote in Oregon’s primary as of Wednesday afternoon, vanquishing three other Republican candidates to become the party’s nominee for the seat currently held by Senator Jeff Merkley, a Democrat. G.O.P. Voters Back QAnon Conspiracy Promoter for U.S. Senate 2020-05-20 Mike Baker https://web.archive.org/web/20251106001747/https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/us/oregon-senate-perkins-qanon.html 6 November 2025
Usage notes
Primarily used as a nickname but also occasionally used as a formal given name, especially in conjoined names such as en Jo Ann and en Mary Jo.
Alternative forms
en Joe
Derived terms
en Jolene, en Jody; see also en Joanne
Etymology 2
Variant of en Joe, diminutive form of en Joseph, en Josiah, etc.
Proper noun
en rare en Joe.
Chapter XI Name, Jo. Nothing else that he knows on. Don't know that everybody has two names. Never heerd of sich a think. Don't know that Jo is short for a longer name. Thinks it long enough for him. He don't find no fault with it. Spell it? No. He can't spell it.
Derived terms
en Jo Daviess County; see also en Jody
See also
Jo block
Anagrams
en jo OJ
en 1-syllable words male given names unisex given names female given names from French female given names from Hebrew male given names from French male given names from Hebrew diminutives of female given names diminutives of male given names clippings
Dutch
Pronunciation
nl Nl-Jo.ogg
nl oː 1
Proper noun
f
nl female Johanna,Josefien
French
Pronunciation
Proper noun
mf
fr unisex Joanne,Joanna,Josée,José,Joseph
German
Proper noun
de proper noun m
de biblical rare de Johannes the Gospel of John: Joh.
Ghomala'
Proper noun
bbj proper noun
The town of Bandjoun in the Ghomala' language
bbj
Related terms
bbj tɔ̂ŋ
See also
bbj Cà Byə̌ŋ Ha' Bəm Bǐŋ
References
Luxembourgish
Etymology
From lb jo yes.
Pronunciation
lb /jo/ [joː]
lb oː 1
Noun
m -
a yes
Antonyms
lb Neen
Norwegian Nynorsk
nn:
Etymology 1
Short form of names with the element nn jo (such as nn Jostein and nn Jorid), from non jór horse.
Proper noun
m
nn male
Proper noun
f
nn female
Etymology 2
Proper noun
m Jon John
nn rare no female, short for Josefine, Johanne etc.