My girlfriend and I were talking about my shopping for a jon boat, and she asked why they were called jon boat. I did a quick search of the internet, but wanted some of yalls input

I'm thinking Jon was the guy that built the first one.   :) ;D  

They arose from the needs of river working folk.  Somthing with minimal draft, beachable, stabler than a canoe and bulletproof compared to previous wooden alternatives.  Essentially a river system work vessel.

Jon is short for Jonathon, the manufacturer of the original boat.

Ok it sounded good when I thought about it.  ;D

Nobody really knows where the term "Jon boat" originated.  We do know the "Jon Boat" came out of the Ozark region. The boat was first crafted in the region for use of floating the many waterways.  The first time "Jon Boat" was ever used in print was in 1919 and didn't really become a widely used term until the 1950's.  Charley Barnes a turn of the century Ozark boat builder was credited with creating the name but in an interview with him he denies naming the boat and states that it's just what some people had called it.  It is known that flat bottom boats of the time that were made with "Jack Pine" we're called "Jack Boats".  Maybe "Jon Boat" is a distortion of this name?  Guess the real answer is buried somewhere in Ozark history.