Jack (name)
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Jack is a common English male given name. It was originally a nickname for the names John and Jacob . It was the most common name for new born boys in England and Wales every year from 1995 to 2005 [link][link]. By contrast John is no longer in the top 50.
Although it may appear at first glance to be derived from the French Jacques—which is cognate with the names James and Jacob—native speakers of English would almost certainly associate the name "Jack" with "John," and rarely with "Jacob" and probably never with "James." Rather, it is believed that "Jack" is the result of adding the French diminutive suffix "-kin" (much like the German "-chen") to the name "Jean," which is the French form of the English "John", or "Jan," which is a shortening of the German "Johann." The result would have pronounced as "ZHANG-kin," with the "n" being nasalized, and thus later omitted by Anglophones without much difficulty.
In television and film:
- Jack Black, an American actor
- Jack Scalia, an American actor
- Jack Wagner, an American actor
- Jack Johnson, the singer/songewriter who also plays guitar
- Jack and the Beanstalk, an old fairy tale known throughout the world
- Jack Be Nimble, he would jump over candlesticks
- Jack Sprat, a mean who could eat no fat
- John F. Kennedy, was commonly known as Jack
- Jack and the Beanstalk, an old fairy tale known throughout the world
- Jack Be Nimble, he would jump over candlesticks
- Jack Ryan, the main character in "The Hunt for Red October", "Clear and Present Danger" and other Tom Clancy novels
- Jack Sparrow, lead character of the Pirates of the Caribbean movie series.
- Jack Sprat, a mean who could eat no fat
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