Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Abroad Share The Most Generic 'John Smith' Names From Their Home Country

People Abroad Share The Most Generic 'John Smith' Names From Their Home Country
Shane Rounce on Unsplash
Make us preferred on Google

We like to think we're individual snowflakes, dancing around on this planet until we land on the soft, gentle tongue of death.

What?

Turns out, we're not as unique as we think. Ever meet someone with the same name as you? Weird, right?

How do we tell Jennifer apart from Jennifer, or which Zach is the one with brown hair and the one with blonde.

Thankfully your name isn't something so unbelievably common sounding that it sounds made up, like John Smith, or something.

That's only here in America, though. What about the rest of the world?


Reddit user, iceninekills10, wanted to know the 'John Smiths' of your country when they asked:

"what is the "john smith",most generic name, in your country?"

When You're A Jet, You're The Jet All The Way

"First name: Maria, João, José, Pedro, Paulo"

"Surname: Da Silva, Souza"

"Combine them and you'll get 10 equally unremarkable names."- IC_grapes_of_green

"In Westside story the main character shouts 'MARIA!' inside Spanish Harlem and one girl pokes her head out of her window really takes you out of it."

"Not the gangs dance fighting and snapping their fingers, because that does occasionally happen."- redfoot62

Juan. John. Coincidence?

"Juan Pérez- Chile"- plasticmummy

So Common It Breaks Borders

"Christian Hansen."

"The most Danish and most basic name known to man kind."

"I only lived close to the border between Germany and Denmark, and growing up I had at least 2 teachers with that name, plus I knew at least 5 others."- TheOneAndOnlyDudeE

"I personally know three Chris Hansens, and I don't even live in Denmark."- StanePantsen

"Martin hansen."- Havolli

Meet The Whole Family

"Michael Müller"- therudereditdude

"Or his son, Thomas Müller."- dumpster_scuba

"Or His son, Max Müller"- therudereditdude

"Abdul Rahman"- norocababe

A Lot Of Unidentified Bodies

"In Hungary we always say Kovács János, literal translation of John Smith, as an universal male name, but it's more like John Doe."- fourllll

Common Enough To Be In The Comments

"Jan de vries /jan janssen"- Flupsdarups

"Yes hello"- jandefries

I Think We've All Been To That Pub...

"Seán Murphy"- ILiterallyOwnTexas

Suddenly It All Makes Sense

"Mario Rossi"- the_Chocolate_lover

"Which translates to 'Mario Red'."

"Also 'Luigi Verdi', 'Luigi Green' could be a generic name in Italy."

"Mamma mia!"- m4nu3lf

Got Money On My Mind

"Straight up nguyen all over"- ThePare

"Differentiate Them In Your Phone" Common

"I know 12 people named David Lee."

"I live in Canada."

"One of them is saved as David Lee NOT ASIAN on my phone"- rayrayrayray

Choose Where You're From

" Japan: [Sato, Suzuki, Takahashi, Tanaka] [Taro for men] [Aiko for women]"- fuzzycuffs

"I've always learned that the equivalent to John Smith (just some generic name that could be anybody) in Japan is Taro Yamada for a man and Hanako Yamada for a woman."- SoulScout

" Japanese commoners didn't have family names until the Meiji era, and once they got surnames they often chose those that described where they were from."

"Yamada 山田 means Mountain Field, i.e. someone who probably was a farmer from a mountainous area."- fuzzycuffs

Hogging the Vowels, But Missing "U" Always...

"Oísin O' Flanagan-Ireland."- AmazingFriendo

"Aoife and Séan- Ireland."- Lovelymisery1

Variations On A Name...

"For the guys its Caleb for the girls it's any variation of the name Maddie/Addy."

"Ex: Madison, Madelyn, Addi, etc."- wroetobogo

To Life!

"Haim Cohen."- Itamar_A

How Many Consonants Can You Squeeze In?

"In South Canara, you’ll get a name of Vishnu (Vishnu, Krishna, Hari, Narayana) and either Bhat or Shetty."- ArnyBoy101

Don't Tell Marcia, But It's Jan!

"Jan Novák."- Massivvvv

"Probably Jan de Jong or Jan de Vries - The Netherlands."- wavykamekun420

"Jan de Bakker."- Helpful-Background71

Is that John With Or Without An H?

"Jón Jónsson."- CheckP

What's in a name?

Turns out if your name is Maria Nguyen Lee Rahman, not much.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Screenshot of Jesse Watters
Fox News

Jesse Watters Has Complete Meltdown After Republicans Lose The Midterms—And We're Grabbing The Popcorn

Fox News host Jesse Watters expressed sheer disbelief after Democrats swept midterm election races to win back both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate in a clear repudiation of the Trump administration.

A Trump advisor told CNN that the election results were "essentially too big to rig." President Donald Trump has said he accepts the results and even acknowledged that his widely unpopular war in Iran played a significant role in pushing Americans to vote for Democrats. Affordability concerns, chief among them the price of gas, also contributed to the backlash Republicans experienced at the voting booth.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @iamjaysaxe's TikTok
@iamjaysaxe/TikTok

Trauma Coach Sparks Debate After Revealing The Unexpected 'Real' Reasons Men Cheat

There's always a reason behind why a person chooses to do something, but at the end of the day, it's still their choice whether they will follow through and do that thing, good or bad.

TikToker and trauma coach @iamjaysaxe, who also admitted to being a former cheater himself, shared that he's worked with "hundreds" of men through their worst relationship habits, cheating, and dealing with the shame of the things they've done wrong in their relationships.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @miss.dugan1's TikTok
@miss.dugan1/TikTok

High School English Teacher Reveals Her Students' Bonkers Comments About 'The Great Gatsby'—And Hoo Boy

The subject of public education in the United States getting worse, and the country falling into a literacy crisis, has been brewing for a while and only seems to be getting worse.

Ironically, a video about students' slang comments about The Great Gatsby might actually offer up a little bit of hope.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots from @shazmeeraqadri's TikTok video
@shazmeeraqadri/TikTok

Woman Sparks Debate After Explaining Why You Shouldn't Treat Your In-Laws Like Your Own Parents

A lot of people have trouble getting along with their in-laws, often because they don't feel accepted or because they constantly feel like their boundaries are being pushed.

There's also no guarantee that the relationship will last forever that brought the in-laws into their lives in the first place.

Keep ReadingShow less
97-Year-Old Man Goes Viral After Making 'Dramatic Exit' By Passing Away At His Own Birthday Party

97-Year-Old Man Goes Viral After Making 'Dramatic Exit' By Passing Away At His Own Birthday Party

Most people turning 97 might settle for cake, a few birthday cards, and an early bedtime. Not Vito. This man wanted a Halloween birthday rager, and apparently, he wasn't taking requests for a quieter evening.

Vito, whose last name has not been publicly reported, got his wish. The California birthday boy spent the celebration dancing with friends to the Bee Gees' "Stayin' Alive" before unexpectedly passing away at the party. The extraordinary celebration was originally documented on TikTok by Los Angeles baker Eden Malinoff, although her original videos are no longer available.

Keep ReadingShow less