Speaking of the word John, a follow up question. Looking over the English muster rolls of about 95,000 service records between 1369 - 1453, we have almost 31,000 entries with the first name John. Usually I would just scuff this off because it's like signing your name with an X. The difference in this case is that all except an insignificant number also have legible surnames. Were they all called John, perhaps how people today call their children after popular figures in society? Was John back then a name used as a signature by an illiterate person? How does one explain the proliferation of surnames?