Abbreviated name Jo. ?

[Bay89]

I was trying to find my direct paternal ancestor on the August 10th 1635 ship passenger list for the ship 'Safety' leaving London embarked to Norfolk Virginia colony. I found my ancestor Jo. Bay age 16. It didn't occur to me until now that I had been referring to him as John. I was thinking in the back of my head that the abbreviation was for the forename John. But as I started scrolling down the list I noticed there were plenty of John's spelled and not abbreviated. I've been having trouble finding my ancestor born Circa 1619 and now I'm thinking that I had his first name all wrong.

Could it be possible that the abbreviation is for another name? So I looked up abbreviations and came acrossed these definitions...... any thoughts? I really appreciate any advice knowledge and insight you may have

-Jo. Abbreviations -
Norwegian:
Jo
1.A male given name, short form of Jon (= John).
2.(rare) A female given name, from Old Norse jór, horse.
3.(rare) A female given name, short for Josefine, Johanne etc.

English:
A rare spelling variant of Joe, diminutive of the male given name Joseph

Jac.   James
Jas         James
Jer.         Jeremiah
Jno          John
Jon.   Jonathan
Jos.   Joseph
Josh.   Joshua
Josh   Josiah
Jud.   Judith

Im not certain but maybe I'm onto something here.

[Bay89]

Passenger list 1635

[Chilternbirder]

Rather later than your example but a pretty standardised set of abbreviations was developed by the nineteenth century. A list can be found at https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Abbreviations_for_English_given_names

My gut feeling would be Joseph, Jonathan or John.

[Bay89]

Yeah I'm starting to think the same thing.
I wish I could find a record containing place of residence for Jo. Bay before he left London Aug 10 1635


I think your absolutely right on the name John. I found this headright claim for him. Filed by William Eyres 1642, 7 years after he arrived to Norfolk County Virginia. John Bay would have been about 23 years old

[Bay89]

Yeah I'm starting to think the same thing.
I wish I could find a record containing place of residence for Jo. Bay before he left London Aug 10 1635


I think your absolutely right on the name John. I found this headright claim for him. Filed by William Eyres 1642, 7 years after he arrived to Norfolk County Virginia. John Bay would have been about 23 years old