I have realized that the first name John paired with Mary as a middle name is quite common in France. For example, Marie was St. John Vianney's middle name. Is there any reason for the first name John to be so commonly paired with Mary or am I just making this up?

That is also used in Spanish although it's more common to pair with Joseph: José María for men, and María José for women.

That makes sense because of the Holy Family. I am curious why it would be more common to pair "Marie" with "Jean" more than other names.

"Son, behold thy Mother."

St. John the Apostle had the privilege of taking care of Our Lady.

The name would basically memorialize that fact.

Interesting that he was the youngest, and the only virgin apostle. And he was the only Apostle that didn't flee, but stayed with Our Lord till the end.


P.S. I have to love the French Catholic culture. Now there's a culture! Look at all their names -- Christian (Catholic) through-and-through. The Faith is everywhere. But as they say, the corruption of the best is the worst... and that is what we have today in France. Quite tragic.

There are many other names that start with Jean though --

Jean-Baptiste (like Fr. Brocard, who is in the Resistance)
Jean-Luc (Star Trek TNG fans will recognize this one)
Jean-Claude (Martial arts movie/action movie buffs?)
Jean-Pierre
Jean-Marc

It's like they want so badly to have more than one excellent saint's name, so they combine 2 together. Contrast this with modern-day Americans, who deny their children even ONE saint's name!

Up until about 1965, all of the people on my mother’s side of the family have Marie for their middle name, both female and male.  They are from Russia, Poland, East Germany, and the Alsace region of France.  

"Son, behold thy Mother."

It is interesting how often people say this.  I think it was even in Mel Gibson's Passion movie.  But in any Bible I've seen, I can't find where Our Lord calls St. John "Son".

"26When Jesus therefore had seen his mother and the disciple standing whom he loved, he saith to his mother: Woman, behold thy son. 27After that, he saith to the disciple: Behold thy mother.  And from that hour, the disciple took her to his own." John 19

It is just a little nitpick of mine.