Since Jack went up the hill with Jill, Jack jumped over the candlestick, and Jack climbed the beanstalk (to name just a few of his exploits,) he must be wiped out. Doesn’t it seem like a disproportionate number of nursery rhymes and fairy tales contain a hero named Jack? Is this just a coincidence?
What’s a nursery rhyme vs. a fairy tale?
First things first, our boy Jack plays a starring role in both nursery rhymes and fairy tales—is there something these two have in common beyond, obviously, his name? A nursery rhyme is “a short, simple poem or song for very young children,” such as “Hickory, Dickory, Dock,” “Little Bo Peep,” “One, Two, Buckle My Shoe,” and yes, “Jack Sprat.”
A fairy tale is a story “about elves, hobgoblins, dragons, fairies, or other magical creatures,” usually featuring some form of enchantment. Some of the most famous fairy tales were recorded by the Grimm Brothers in the 1800s.
Many of the nursery rhymes and fairy tales we know today originated a long time ago. They were part of an oral folk tradition that dates back centuries, and along the years, they were collected, printed, and shared in book form as well.
Why is the name Jack used so often?
Jack is a stock character in a collection of English folk tales. In these stories and songs, Jack is both a foolish boy and clever all at once, and a similar type appeared in German tales (Hans or Hansel) and Russian ones (Ivan). Jack often uses his wits to get by and come out ahead at the end of the story.
Some of these stories were first put into print in the 1700s. The two most well-known are probably “Jack and the Beanstalk” and “Jack the Giant Killer.”
In “Jack and the Beanstalk,” Jack sells his poor mother’s cow for a handful of magical beans. This infuriates her, and she tosses the beans into the garden. They grow into a thick stalk that climbs into the sky. Jack proceeds to climb the stalk, find the land of a giant, and steal from him. The giant pursues Jack. But the boy manages to scurry down the stalk fast enough to chop it down and send the giant to his death.
Then there’s “Jack, the Giant Killer,” which tells the story of a brave and clever farmer’s son who kills several giants with names like Cormoran and Blunderbore.
The tales eventually made their way from England to the Appalachian region in the United States where they were adopted to fit the culture and its storytelling tradition. While the setting may have changed, these Jack Tales— as they are known in the US—remain remarkably the same, candlesticks, beanstalks, and all.
Where did the name Jack come from?
The name Jack has a complex origin. While it is used as a diminutive of Jacob, it also derives from the Old English Jan (“John”) and the Germanic Jankin (“kin of John.”)
These Jan names exist independently of the French Jacques.
Yet, all of these paths combine to make Jack such a common name that English speakers once used it to refer to any male (not necessarily in a complimentary manner). Jack remains one of the most popular first names in the English speaking world. That’s why we also have: “The House That Jack Built,” Jack Frost, a jack of all trades, and Jack Horner.
(Why is it called a jack-o-lantern? You can also read about that!)
Essentially, Jack in tales serves as a kind of shorthand for “guy.” The Dude from The Big Lebowski could probably relate to Jack.
