List of terms referring to an average person


The following is a list of terms referring to an average person. Many are used as placeholder names.

Ungrouped

Arabic

Fulān, Fulāna, also

Argentina

  • María Victoria Villareal is used in the National Identity Cards specimens, born in 60's. However, she was replaced with others.
  • Virgilio Portillo is a non-citizen, generally appear as Paraguayan nationality.
  • Manuela Martínez or Fernández, is a girl that has "MANU", in her signature.
  • Juan Pérez is used colloquially as a generic male full name.
  • Fulano, Mengano, Zutano, three fake names, were used in the past as 'some guy,' as in "On his way to work he ran into Fulano and they spoke for a while."

    Australia

  • Man on the Bondi tram

    Austria

  • Hans Meier / Maier / Mayer
  • Herr und Frau Österreicher

    Belgium (Dutch)

  • Jan met de pet

    Colombia

  • Pepito or Pepita Pérez, used due to its alliterative sound.

    Czechia

  • Jan Novák, Jana Nováková ; the most common Czech name and surname
  • Otakar Všudybyl and Jana Zcestovalá, used on travelcards or ID cards samples
  • BFU, meaning "brain free user"

    Denmark

  • Hr. og Fru Danmark
  • Hr. og Fru Hakkebøf

    Estonia

  • Inimene tänavalt

    Finland

  • Matti Meikäläinen Maija Meikäläinen.

    France

  • Usable as a common word: Pierre-Paul-Jacques ;
  • Random people : Monsieur/Madame Tout-le-monde, Untel/Unetelle, Madame Michu, Tartempion ;
  • Other:
  • * Machin/Machine ;
  • * Gazier originally, a man who worked in gas transport; nowadays, it is a familiar way to say "Someone".
  • * Quidam: someone whose identity is unknown or cannot be disclosed.
See also :fr:wikt:Tartempion#Synonymes

Germany

  • Max Mustermann, Erika Mustermann, since 1978. More recently, other first names have also been used in specific context, such as Leon Mustermann, Cleopâtre Mustermann, or Manu Musterperson.
  • Otto Normalverbraucher for economics related purposes

    Greater China

  • , a common generic name used in educational or comedic situations.
  • , , , etc., equivalent to "Person A, Person B, etc."; meaning "a certain". Heavenly stems are often used to number the unspecified people.

    Mainland China

  • 劉一, 陳二, 張三, 李四, 王五, 趙六, 孫七, 周八, 吳九, 鄭十, all following the scheme of a common surname followed by a number
  • 冬冬, 妞妞, 妮妮 for children

    Hong Kong

  • 陳大文 and 陳小美
  • 樂永晴 or Lok Wing Ching, the name currently used on the sample identity card.

    Taiwan

  • 志明 and 春嬌

    India (and Pakistan)

  • Aam Aadmi -- literally meaning "ordinary person" in Hindi
  • Ashok Kumar has been used in multiple court cases as a placeholder name as well
  • In Pakistan, mainly where the languages are more influenced by Persian, they use Falan as a placeholder more commonly

    Ireland

  • Tadhg an mhargaidh

    Italy

  • Mario Rossi, a very common name
  • Pinco Pallino, a made up name
  • Tal dei Tali, a made up name with the meaning of “so-and-so of all the so-and-sos”, i.e., a particular so-and-so)
  • Signor Nessuno
  • "Tizio, Caio e Sempronio" equivalent to "Tom, Dick and Harry". Originated from Tiberius, Gaius and Sempronius Gracchus.

    Japan

  • Malaysia

  • Cik Kiah, a derivative of the name Makcik Kiah, a name made up by PM Tan Sri Muhyiddin to illustrate an average Malaysian: a Pisang goreng seller earning the median rural income.

    México

Fulano, mengano, zutano, and perengano are words that are used to refer to someone when their name is not known or is not wanted to be said.

Netherlands

  • Jan Modaal, used to refer to those with a median income
  • Henk en Ingrid, used by politician Geert Wilders
  • Jan met de pet

    Nigeria

  • Lagbaja, literally ‘someone’ in the Yoruba language.

    Norway

  • Ola Nordmann, Kari Nordmann, common Norwegian first names and a surname that literally translates to "Norwegian"

    Persian-speaking countries (e.g. Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan)

  • فلانی : Loan word from Arabic, which is used in Persian for both male and female subjects.
  • یارو : Mainly derogatory, and associated strongly with the Tehrani dialect. Is used to mean "that person over there".

    Philippines

  • Juan dela Cruz, María dela Cruz or Juana dela Cruz

    Poland

  • Jan Kowalski, Anna Kowalska, the second most common Polish surname.
  • For a broader representation of average Poles "Kowalski" may be grouped with some other common surnames, such as Nowak, Malinowski, or Wiśniewski: "Imagine our neighbors, the Kowalskis or Nowaks, who earn PLN 100 less per month than we do".
  • a surname formed in accordance with the rules of creating Polish surnames with the common suffix -ski/-ska, but the basis for its creation was the letter X, which is used to denote unknowns. It is used especially in situations where one wants to emphasise that the person one is talking about is not anyone in particular or that the identity of that person cannot be given. When talking about another such person in a single utterance, one can use the surname Igrekowski, which is derived from the letter Y. Both surnames also have female forms, and Igrekowska respectively. No living Polish citizen bears these surnames.

    Portugal/Brazil

  • Fulano, Sicrano, Beltrano "Fulano, Sicrano e Beltrano" equivalent to "Tom, Dick and Harry"
  • Zé Ninguém, equivalent to “Mister Nobody”

    Romania

  • Cutărescu, general term used in order to avoid a specific surname; a no-name

    Russia

Common placeholder first names in Russia are Ivan and Pyotr, due to their ubiquity. Their placeholder function may be seen in old Russian textbooks: in arithmetical problems or sentences to illustrate grammar.
The name "Vasya Pupkin" may be used to denote an average random or unknown person in the colloquial speech.
For a group of average persons or to stress the randomness of a selection, a triple common Russian surnames are used together in the same context: "Ivanov, Petrov, or Sidorov". This is a relatively new phenomenon that was unknown in the early 20th century. Ivanov, being derived from the most common first name, is a placeholder for an arbitrary person. In its plural form, "Ivanovs", it may be used as a placeholder for a group of people. There is a military joke: The sergeant asks the rookies: "Your surnames!" - "Ivanov!", "Petrov!", "Sidorov!" - "Are you brothers?" - "No, we are namesakes, sir!"

Serbia

Petar Petrović is the most often used name in examples of how to fill out documents, payment slips etc, alongside the street name Petra Petrovića and the town of Petrovac. Other names: Jovan Jovanović, Marko Marković, Lazar Lazarević, Ivan Ivanović.

Somalia