Johnny Adjective: A Look at How the Name "John" Has Been Used as General Description in American History

For most of America's existence John has been consistently near the top of the most common first names to give male newborns. John had long been a common name in England so this only makes sense. In the 1600s a Johnnie in England was used to describe someone that the word chap might today; by the late 1800s a Johnnie had evolved specifically into social gadabout; a Bertie Wooster type. The name John has been applied in several different ways throughout American history. Although we commonly think of ourselves as Yankees, or Yanks, in connection with British oppression, before that particular term entered the lexicon, the British had another term used disdainfully to refer to American colonialists: Brother Jonathan. If the object of British ire was a farmer, he would be called John Farmer, which eventually got turned around to the more recognizable Farmer John. For some reason John was the name of choice to situate before a general description. For instance, someone with a French heritage was commonly called Johnny Crapeau in the early 1800s; likewise someone from the Orient was familiarly called John Chinaman. And let's not forget good old Johnny Reb, taking up his gun in defense of slavery...I mean states' rights. By which I mean the right of states to keep slavery legal. After the great expansion westward pretty much any Native American regardless of his actual tribal affiliation could be expected to be addressed as Johnny Navajo.