This is not just a name that is very common and unremarkable; this is a name that calls attention to how generic it is. In other words, the name is a word that means "generic," and is therefore a very uncommon name.

See also AwesomeMcCoolname and FailOSuckyname.
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!!Examples:

* ''BobbysWorld'': Bobby's family are the "Generics". However, whenever someone pronounces it like the English word, a family member corrects them: [[{{ItIsPronouncedTro-PAY}} it's pronounced "Jenn-er-ick"]].
* Mayor Blank, from ''TheTick''.
* Jerri Blank and her family from ''StrangersWithCandy''. Her name arose from the creators' need for a placeholder, which they grew attached to and decided it was "just ugly enough."
* ''Literature/TwentyThousandLeaguesUnderTheSea'': Captain Nemo, which literally means "no one".
* Jenn Erica from the comic strip ''Ink Pen''.
* In the ''{{Pendragon}}'' tabletop RPG, the sample characters are all members of the "de Falt" family.
* In the PC adventure/RPG ''VideoGame/{{Quest for Glory I}}'', should you decide not to name your hero, his name will be "Unknown Hero". This gets awkward if you bring the hero into later games, and [[NonPlayerCharacter NPCs]] address you by that name.
* The main character of ''SnowCrash'' is named Hiroki "Hiro" Protagonist.
* This is the reasoning behind [[Film/TheMatrix Agent Smith]]'s name. The other two in the first movie are Agents Brown and Jones.
** Cypher means a coded message, but it also means zero. It becomes a MeaningfulName.
* Le Chiffre, the villain in ''Film/CasinoRoyale''. His name is French for "the number". He picked it because, as inmate of the Dachau displaced persons camp, he was given a stateless passport and was "only a number on a passport."
** As the book says, in Germany he would be called Herr Ziffer.
* The five component vehicles in ''SupercarGattiger'' are given the uncreative names Center Machine, Left Machine, Right Machine, End Machine, and Up Machine.
* ''TheInexplicableAdventuresOfBob'' is set (mostly)in Bob's generic hometown Generictown.
* The continent on which ''Franchise/DragonAge'' takes place is called "Thedas" – which is an abbreviation of ''THE'' ''D''ragon ''A''ge ''S''etting that was used as a placeholder by the developers and then was kept as the name.
* H. G. Wells' "Things to Come" centers around a city called "Everytown".
* In one ''FamilyGuy'' episode, Brian moves to L.A. to try and make it in Hollywood. One of his co-workers at his crummy minimum wage job successfully sells a script with a protagonist named John Everyman.
* In the ''SinisterDexter'' story ''Malone'', Finny has erased his memory and changed his face and moved to a planet called Generica.
* In the RealLife United States, when a legal case needs to name someone whose name is either not currently known or not wanted to be revealed, the name John Doe is used. If more than one, it can be John Doe #1, John Doe #2, etc. If female, it can be Jane Roe. Which is why the famous abortion case is ''Roe vs. Wade'', as the woman wished to remain anonymous. The Wade was Dallas County District Attorney Henry Wade, representing the State of Texas.
** Also, "John Smith" and "John Citizen" are placeholder names.
*** The Doctor is fond of using "John Smith" as an alias for this reason. Lampshaded in the episode Midnight when people don't believe it.
** A fairly antiquated term for the average voter/customer is "John Q. Public". Still used a bit today, although Q has become a much less common middle initial.
* ''GIJoe'' was originally named this way. They were average Joes who were in the General Infantry. Until later, when they became elite special agents.
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