Jane Austen either didn't like the name John or hated someone in her life named John.
Of the four Johns that appear in her novels (John Dashwood, Sir John Middleton, John Willoughby and John Thorpe), three are of deplorable character, as John Dashwood is a scroogish, Weak-Willed Jerkass, John Willoughy is an irresponsible, hedonistic sociopath, and John Thorpe is a boastful Consummate Liar with a massive case of Entitled to Have You.- Or it was just a very common name, and as such it was used often in Jane Austen's writing. There is also John Knightly, who is less of a knight than his brother, but he is an exemplary father and a good husband. And his son John is a sweet child. In Emma, there are more minor characters named John: Old John Abdy (a clerk to the late Rev Mr Bates), John Abdy (an ostler and head man at the Crown), John Saunders (Miss Bates considers taking her mother's spectacles to him to fix), then in Mansfield Park, we have John Yates (Tom Bertram's friend), John Price (Fanny's younger brother), John Groom (Mrs Norris mentions him in a letter); in Pride and Prejudice, there are two servants named John; in Persuasion, there is John Shepherd (an agent to Sir Walter), and also Master John Middleton from Sense and Sensibility.
