That’s really surprising as, at least in the US, John is substantially more common than Jonathan. Even at the peak of the popularity of Jonathan in the late 1980s, John was more common.
Yeah, I too find this really odd. John has always been a standalone name in its own right, and always far more common than Jonathan at least in the major English-speaking countries I’m aware of.
I think it’s that “John” just sounds like it should be a shortening of “Jonathan.” Yea, etymologically they are independent names, but if Rob is usually short for Robert and Will is usually short for William and Tom is usually short for Thomas, etc., then unless you look it up in a book it seems logical that John is short for Jonathan. As a child, I assumed so, until I looked it up in a book.
Yeah, there’s a lot of names like that – ones that seem to be nicknames or shortenings but aren’t always. Like I know people named “Jack” for whom it is not a nickname form of “John.” It is simply “Jack” (not even a shortening of the now-somewhat-common “Jackson” as a forename.) I know a “Kathy” – probably more than one – who is simply “Kathy/Cathy/Kathie/Cathie,” not short for Kathleen or Katherine or anything. And many more examples. I’ve run into this so often that I would never assume that a nickname-sounding name is actually a nickname and not the given name.
I know a bloke whose proper, formal, legal first name is “Charlie.” He has exhibited the patience of a saint putting up with people who “correct” this to “Charles” for legal purposes. He is polite, patient, kind, and…insistent. He usually wins, but upon occasion he has had to return to a place with a birth certificate.
(Anyone who keeps insisting otherwise, after you’ve corrected them, is a jerk, if not a complete asshole. The world has no shortage of either.)
If for some reason I need to know or am otherwise on friendly terms and am merely curious, I simply ask “is that short for anything?” and not assume.
My father’s name was Jack. He was always getting mail, usually something formal or legal, addressed to “John”.
I have two step-sisters named Laurie. One (RIP) had the given name Laurie, the other’s given name is Laura but she has always gone by Laurie.
A good friend of mine is Willie. People sometimes call him William but he doesn’t care.
Most times I’ve let it go when my last name is mispronounced usually when it’s a one time encounter otherwise I correct the speaker. On occasion the speaker will insist their pronunciation is correct because that’s how all the other same last name local people pronounce it. So I have to reveal that I am truly an alien and we have our own ways. 
You had TWO STEP SISTERS, one named Laurie and one named Laura? Please tell me the same set of parents didn’t name them.
Haha. My stepmom and stepdad coincidentally named their daughters similar names years before my actual parents got divorced.
People always get both my first and last name wrong. I just roll with it. At one of my embassy posts, a guy I was friendly with greeted me as “Ken” (not my name) every time I saw him. I think his wife finally corrected him, and the next time I saw him he said “I’ve been calling you by the wrong name for months, now! Why didn’t you say something?” I told him that it just wasn’t that important to me, and that since he didn’t mean any harm by it, it was fine. I think it flustered him.
I’ve always thought my name was simple and difficult to get confused…
My first time in Europe, I showed up at my hotel (in a small mountain town), walked up to desk, and when the woman at the desk looked up, since I did not speak the language, I said my name. She gesture off to the left. I looked to the left, didn’t see anyone, so I said my name again, she pointed off to the left and I noticed she was pointing into what looked like an empty dining room. So I said my name more emphatically, which only seemed to make her more confused…
We finally sorted things out when her supervisor, who spoke English, showed up. I turns out that my last name greatly resembles the name of a vegetable grown in the region and they were in the middle of a festival week devoted to the vegetable, so the hotel dining room was featuring dishes centered around the vegetable. The desk clerk thought I was someone who wanted to sample the specials!
My sister’s First name is Kae. She had the same experience at her First school. Our mother paid them a visit and the problem was resolved.
For other names - yeah. My husband’s name is Danny and people frequently assume it’s short for “Daniel” , but it’s not. Jo(h)n is a different story - sure, it makes sense that you as a child thought “John” was short for “Jonathan” but by the time someone is an adult , they ought to know that they are two different names. Especially if that adult is a teacher, as in the first example.
And just as aside, people shouldn’t assume what someone’s first name is from their nickname - in addition to the fact that the “nickname” might be the complete name, there are plenty of nicknames that apply tp more than one first name. What is “Al” short for or “Chris” or “Berto” ? And then are people like my Uncle Jimmy - everyone found out his name was Vincent when it was time to send wedding invitations. ( It’s an Italian-American thing)
I mean, in general, there’s really nothing morally or ethically wrong with making certain kinds of assumptions, especially in situations like this, when the vast majority of the time, the assumption will turn out to be correct. And this is a pretty trivial matter. The real issue is what you do when it happens that the assumption is wrong.
But overall, I believe that in American culture, people are waaaaayyyy too uptight about their names, in almost all aspects—spelling, pronuncation, form, nicknames, etc.
For perspective, I come from a culture in which any person you have a relationship with has the right to decide what to call you. It’s a form of intimacy. And it’s not like it’s unheard of in American culture either: People show intimacy with nicknames. Yes, “Charlie” can be a nickname for “Charles.” But even if I know that your legal name is “Charlie,” I can also use “Charles” as a nickname. Why not? It has a certain ring to it.
Also, Indian names can be spelled in multiple ways—no one makes a huge deal if someone else spells your name differently. In most cases, it’s not going to matter. There are also many ethnicities in India, and if your name is from one ethnicity, then it’s very likely that when you meet someone from another ethnicity, then they’re going to use their native pronunciation—it just really becomes part of that person’s accent.
For example, I have an Indian name, but I was born in the United States. (All the names in this example are invented, but illustrate the pattern) Say, it’s Apurbva. My dad would call me “Papaby.” My mom would call me “Apo.”
When I was a small child, none of my playmates could pronounce my name. They would call me “hey, you.” So, my mom picked an Anglo nickname, “Tony.” Over the years, I would go by “Tony” at school. My mom, playing on that would call me “Antony,” and she still sometimes does. Teachers and kids at school would mostly call me “Tony,” but one teacher started calling me “Anto.” It’s all good. But in writing, I always used my legal name “Apurbva.”
The problem came at the point I got my first job in journalism, and I had a couple of editors who would not let me use my legal name, Apurbva, in my bylines. They insisted I go by “Tony.” It was at that point that it became obnoxious to me. So, I stopped telling people about the “Tony” option. Most people these days use some form of “Apurbva,” although most of them don’t get the pronunciation even halfway close. The closer I am to someone, the more likely it is they will come up with an intimate nickname of some kind, and that’s great. A very few people who might have known me since childhood might call me “Tony,” and that’s fine.
The only times I get worked up about it is if:
(1) Someone tries to tell me what name, or what form of my name, I can or should use in representing myself,
(2) Someone tries to tell me that I should change my name to make it “easier” or (stabby!) “American.” (I am an American, so my name is American)
(3) Someone makes a big deal over pronouncing my name, especially if E says something along the lines of “I’m not even going to try to pronounce your name, because I’m afraid of getting it wrong.” I’m sorry, no, you have to risk getting it wrong. I’m not bothered by mispronunciations; I expect it, and different pronunciations are fine. I am bothered by the implication that my name is so unreasonable that you’re not going to try to say it. Say it. Get it wrong. Deal with it.
I also look at it this way—at some point we’re going to die, and we won’t have any control over what name people use for us. If they use any name at all, that is a kind of extraordinary honor.
It’s interesting that you say that because I would prefer that people not try to pronounce my surname if they’re going to mangle it. Maybe it’s because, even though people frequently mispronounce it, I don’t consider it that hard to pronounce. I feel like if they can’t sound it out, they shouldn’t even try.
So you consider yourself a good judge of how easily other people should be able to pronounce things? Maybe the evidence shows that you’re wrong about this?
Like anything, names are words, and words are a matter of familiarity. Just give people a break; let it slide, I say.
My last name is one that people want to add an “s” to the end. So, if my last name were “John”, people want it to be “Johns”. A few times I’ve been a douche about it. Receptionist calls “Johns” and I don’t respond. She knows she is calling me, as I just checked in. Eventually she walks up to me and says, “Johns?” and I reply, “no, John”.