Orthography

St. John

Pronounced /ˈsɪndʒɨn/ or /ˈsɪnʒən/ , as if written Sinjin or Sinjun is an English polygenetic surname: a surname that has more than one source or origin. Our St. John surname, however, comes from a village in Normandy formerly known as "Saint John at the end of the sea," making it a toponymical surname because it is a surname derived from a place name. These surnames originated as non-hereditary personal by-names, and only subsequently came to be family names. For the nobility of St. John, it became a marker of their social status. St. John originally included the article, 'de,' in French, to mean 'of' [the village] Saint John [at the end of the sea].

Even Mr. Bean (Rowan Atkinson) has trouble pronouncing St. John

James Bond as James St. John Smith (James Sinjin Smythe)