20 Archetypes for People Based on Names
I found this list of 20 archetypes for people based on names on Daily Writing and have used some of them in my own writing.
1. Average Joe: the average man from a demographic viewpoint; from the ubiquity of the name Joe
2. Chatty Cathy: an annoyingly verbose woman; coined through alliteration and rhyme
3. Debbie Downer: a naysayer or pessimist; coined by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
4. Doubting Thomas: a skeptic; inspired by the name of one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, who refused to believe in Jesus’s resurrection until he saw him.
5.Dumb Dora: a dimwitted or foolish woman, from early-twentieth-century slang; coined by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
6. Gloomy Gus: named by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
7. Good-Time Charlie: a hedonist; probably based on a reference in a Damon Runyon story about a speakeasy by that name
8. Handy Andy: a person with useful skills; inspired by rhyming a common name with a descriptive label
9. Jack-the-lad: an arrogant, carefree young man; probably inspired by the name of a thief who became a folk hero because of multiple escapes from prison
10. Joe Blow: (see “Average Joe”)
11. Joe Cool: someone who presents a fashionable or unflappable persona; probably originated with the name of an alter ego of the character Snoopy in the Peanuts comic strip
12. Joe Six-Pack (or “Joe Sixpack”): (see “Average Joe,” imagined as a working-class man who enjoys drinking beer, thus the reference to a six-pack)
13. Mary Sue: any main character in a story who is unrealistically capable and flawless; inspired by the name’s all-American, wholesome, winsome associations
14. Merry Andrew: a clownish person; based on an archetypal clown act
15. Nervous Nellie: a timid, easily upset person of either gender; originally, a reference to a high-strung racehorse, influenced by Old Nell, a name associated with nags, or older horses
16. Peeping Tom: a voyeur; based on an apocryphal story of an onlooker (identified with a common name) during the based-in-fact tale of Lady Godiva
17.Plain Jane: a girl or woman of average appearance, or any unprepossessing object; inspired by rhyming a common name with a descriptive label
18. Simple Simon: a gullible, unintelligent person; derived from a folk character
19.Smart Aleck (or “smart alec”): a know-it-all; apparently inspired by a nineteenth-century con man the police called “Smart Alec”
20. Typhoid Mary: a person who spreads disease or another undesirable thing; named after Mary Mallon, an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid
1. Average Joe: the average man from a demographic viewpoint; from the ubiquity of the name Joe
2. Chatty Cathy: an annoyingly verbose woman; coined through alliteration and rhyme
3. Debbie Downer: a naysayer or pessimist; coined by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
4. Doubting Thomas: a skeptic; inspired by the name of one of the twelve apostles of Jesus, who refused to believe in Jesus’s resurrection until he saw him.
5.Dumb Dora: a dimwitted or foolish woman, from early-twentieth-century slang; coined by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
6. Gloomy Gus: named by joining an alliterative common name with a descriptive label
7. Good-Time Charlie: a hedonist; probably based on a reference in a Damon Runyon story about a speakeasy by that name
8. Handy Andy: a person with useful skills; inspired by rhyming a common name with a descriptive label
9. Jack-the-lad: an arrogant, carefree young man; probably inspired by the name of a thief who became a folk hero because of multiple escapes from prison
10. Joe Blow: (see “Average Joe”)
11. Joe Cool: someone who presents a fashionable or unflappable persona; probably originated with the name of an alter ego of the character Snoopy in the Peanuts comic strip
12. Joe Six-Pack (or “Joe Sixpack”): (see “Average Joe,” imagined as a working-class man who enjoys drinking beer, thus the reference to a six-pack)
13. Mary Sue: any main character in a story who is unrealistically capable and flawless; inspired by the name’s all-American, wholesome, winsome associations
14. Merry Andrew: a clownish person; based on an archetypal clown act
15. Nervous Nellie: a timid, easily upset person of either gender; originally, a reference to a high-strung racehorse, influenced by Old Nell, a name associated with nags, or older horses
16. Peeping Tom: a voyeur; based on an apocryphal story of an onlooker (identified with a common name) during the based-in-fact tale of Lady Godiva
17.Plain Jane: a girl or woman of average appearance, or any unprepossessing object; inspired by rhyming a common name with a descriptive label
18. Simple Simon: a gullible, unintelligent person; derived from a folk character
19.Smart Aleck (or “smart alec”): a know-it-all; apparently inspired by a nineteenth-century con man the police called “Smart Alec”
20. Typhoid Mary: a person who spreads disease or another undesirable thing; named after Mary Mallon, an asymptomatic carrier of typhoid
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