# The origin of "Cletus" as the stereotypical redneck name **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 2, 2021, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325 "2021-12-02T00:21:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/1 "2021-12-02T00:21:43Z")
Didn’t know if there was a factual answer to the question so I put it here. How did “Cletus” become the stereotypical name for a backwoods redneck hillbilly type? Was it a thing before the “Simpsons” character? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 12:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/2 "2021-12-02T00:40:30Z")
Cletus Hogg was a dimwitted deputy sheriff (and cousin of Boss Hogg) on _The Dukes of Hazzard_ from 1979-82; there may well be even earlier examples of the name being used for such a character. ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/3 "2021-12-02T00:44:34Z")
Wasn’t Cletus one of Eddie Murphy’s Klump family? ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/4 "2021-12-02T00:48:40Z")
Yes; Cletus was the name of Professor Sherman Klump’s father (and was one of the numerous characters played by Murphy in that movie). ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/5 "2021-12-02T00:50:03Z")
Have you been to NW Arkansas? Out around Alread and a little west of Shirley? This is one of those questions that doesn’t need to be asked. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/6 "2021-12-02T01:21:50Z")
Clete Boyer and his brother Cloyd would like a word with the OP. Or would, if they weren’t dead. > **[Clete Boyer – Society for American Baseball Research](https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/clete-boyer/)** ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/7 "2021-12-02T01:27:42Z")
This one’s even deader: > **[Pope Anacletus](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Anacletus)** > > Pages for logged out editors learn more > > Pope Anacletus (died c. AD 92), also known as Cletus, was the bishop of Rome, following Peter and Linus. Anacletus served between c. AD 79 and his death, c. AD 92. Cletus was a Roman who, during his tenure as pope, ordained a number of priests and is traditionally credited with setting up about twenty-five parishes in Rome. Although the precise dates of his pontificate are uncertain, he "...died a martyr, perhaps about 91". Cletus is mentioned in ... ---
**Author:** ![dougrb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/76d3ee/32.png) [@dougrb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougrb)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/8 "2021-12-02T01:44:00Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Have you been to NW Arkansas? We were 4-wheeling around White Rock mountain and came across a hustler centerfold duck taped to a metal chair in the middle of the forest. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 6:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/9 "2021-12-02T06:02:31Z")
So, was it some sort of Arkansas historical marker? ---
**Author:** ![aruvqan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aruvqan/32/2891_2.png) [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/10 "2021-12-02T09:39:30Z")
I would have put it at the Dukes of Hazzard character myself. As a joke, a pregnant friend, her husband and I referred to her incipient baby as “Cletus the Fetus” because they couldn’t figure out a name for _her_. at 14 years old, we will still call her Cletus in private, she finds it amusing but would be horrified if we did it in public. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/11 "2021-12-02T11:28:37Z")
“Jethro” is also used. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/12 "2021-12-02T14:18:23Z")
> [@Dallas\_Jones](#): > > Have you been to NW Arkansas? Out around Alread and a little west of Shirley? This is one of those questions that doesn’t need to be asked. OK, full disclosure here - one of my grandfathers was named Cletus, and he was born and raised in rural southeast Missouri (around the Cape Girardeau area). Although he never really acted like a redneck, other than the typical racism that you would expect of people from rural MO. Which is one of the reasons I’ve always been curious how “Cletus” became synonymous with “redneck hillbilly”. It’s not a common name like “Karen”, which has been similarly misappropriated, but must be common enough among a certain group of people in a certain region to have acquired it’s reputation. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/13 "2021-12-02T14:45:03Z")
There’s a whole slew of redneck/hillbilly names - Cletus is one, so are the various hyphenated ones like “Billy Ray”, “Ed Earl”, etc… And in general, antiquated and/or obscurely Biblical names seem to be associated with rustic people. If you heard of someone named “Buford”, “Mordecai” or “Delbert”, would you think rural small town person, or upper class enclave? ---
**Author:** ![Turble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Turble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turble)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/14 "2021-12-02T14:56:29Z")
My grandmother had a brother named Cletus. He was a potato farmer in rural northeastern PA. Some of my relatives in the area still have … don’t know if you’d call it an accent … dialect? … stuff like “Gilly was down’t the crik at the fordin’ place warshin’ the Chivy and this ol’ bear come a’runni’ out the woods …”. So, hillbilly, hick, redneck, take your pick. Uncle Cletus got over a million dollars when the government took a small part of his farm to put in an Interstate interchange. He never spent the money except for buying three pairs of white cotton socks and a new rowboat for his pond; left it all to his son. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2021, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/15 "2021-12-02T15:37:11Z")
> [@Turble](#): > > So, hillbilly, hick, redneck, take your pick. On a related note - having grown up in the St Louis area and having family with rural Missouri roots, I often heard the word “hoosier” as a synonym for hillbilly, hick, yokel, etc. Of course Indiana is famous for capital H Hoosiers which I don’t believe has exactly the same connotations. Anyone else ever heard the word “hoosier” used in that fashion? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/16 "2021-12-04T19:49:51Z")
I never have, but could the term have been borrowed from the term for Indianans and some stereotype that they are hillbillies? (I’m assuming this the case, though I perhaps unfairly feel some irony there.) Usually we make fun of our immediate neighbors, but that’s close enough. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 4, 2021, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/17 "2021-12-04T21:54:16Z")
I started searching for “Cletus” on Google Books. This was the 4th entry so, you know, holy crap there. [[Album] imgur.com ![](https://i.imgur.com/5tZh4Aj.jpeg?fb "imgur.com") ](https://imgur.com/a/eHdBbCD) ---
**Author:** ![Orville\_mogul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/aeb1de/32.png) [@Orville\_mogul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orville_mogul)\ **Post date:** [December 5, 2021, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/18 "2021-12-05T05:06:24Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > hustler centerfold duck Never heard of this before. Is there a special Arkansas edition? ---
**Author:** ![David\_O](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/91b2a8/32.png) [@David\_O](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_O)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/19 "2023-10-27T18:01:50Z")
It may simply be that it was once a common rural name and I would guess that this association was most probably crystallized by the aforementioned Dukes of Hazzard. You would have to ask the writers of that show whence it came. I think it’s probably no different than old timey carney argot which gave us the word ‘rube’ for an ignorant local waiting to have their pockets fleeced, a term which as i understand it was simply based upon the commonality of that name in rural parts at one time where old testament biblical names were in common use. To me growing up in NYC, Reuben was always an old school Jewish signifier, was even my grandfather’s name, but completely unrelated to how we got the term rube ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2023, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325/20 "2023-10-27T19:09:35Z")
Older than that, Alexander the Great hung out with a [pair of](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleitus_the_Black) slack [jawed yokels](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleitus_the_White) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-origin-of-cletus-as-the-stereotypical-redneck-name/955325.md?page=2)