Everymen from Everywhere

[Dannyalcatraz]

In any culture, certain names just scream "average guy," seemingly so common within that culture as to be almost generic. Frequently, such names are given to characters in fiction to give them an "Everyman" feel- someone that all persons from that (or a similar culture) could identify with, either personally or as someone they might find in their neighborhood.

USA examples of culturally generic first names: Joe, John, Bob, Bill, Al, Dave, Pete, Sally, Beth, Jill, Amy

USA examples of culturally generic last names: Smith, Jones, Brown, White, Carpenter

As a naming resource for gamers on either side of the screen, I'd like people to use this thread to list analogs (not translations!) names for people in other cultures...as in, what would be the equivalent Joe Smith be in India? How about John Brown in Finland, Sally Jones in China, or Jill White in Kenya?

 

[Stone Dog]

Just as an aside, "Antilles" in Star Wars is supposed to be a very common last name like "Smith." there is a joke between Lucas and Spielberg that there is a relic hunter in the galaxy who goes by the name of Coruscant Antilles.

Also, 007 was named James Bond because it was the most boring name Ian Flemming ever encountered. Funny thing that is.


Real world names from different cultures though... I'm at a loss.

 

[Jesus_marley]

based on my encounters with many east Indians, I have found the last names of Gill, Dhillon and Singh to be very common in occurrence.

 

[Blackrat]

Well in Finland:

Some of the most usual last names: Virtanen, Mäkinen, Jokinen, Järvinen. If you want a generic finn he will definetly have one of those as last name. Preferably Jokinen.

There aren't many everyman first names I can think of but the synonym of the proverbial everyman (John Doe?) in Finland is Matti Meikäläinen. Although lately the name Ville Virtanen has come to replace it.

But to list some of the more common finnish names:
Male: Markku, Matti, Mika, Arto, Ville, Pertti, Ilpo, Janne
Female: Kaisa, Satu, Suvi, Sanna, Maija, Paula

 

[Thurbane]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_common_names

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_common_surnames

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Thanks for the responses, everyone...esp. those links, Thurbane!

I took a quick look at Germany's list, since I lived there for a few years back in the mid 70's (and have been back since then). In a classic example of how the popularity of names waxes and wanes*, I have never met a single German with any of the first names listed.

*And, of course, the statistical principle that personal experience ≠ evidence.

 

[Huw]

The ten commonest Japanese family names (courtesy of my dictionary): Sato, Suzuki, Takahashi, Tanaka, Ito, Watanabe, Kobayashi, Nakamura, Yamamoto, Kato

Not sure about first names, but I think Akira is equivalent to John.

 

[Felnar]

if you're interested in the most popular names for decades past (USA only i think)
here's a pretty cool Java app

 

[Ry]

Last name Wang, first name Wen Yi (When E Wong) is pretty common from both Hong Kong and Chinese immigrants in Canada. (Hence the prevalence of Wendy Wongs).