8 Famous Household Names You Didn't Know Never Existed

Anyone, including persons who never lived, has the potential to achieve fame. This is also true for fictional characters. Whether they are part of old folklore or popular legends, history has been nice to many famous people who you may be surprised to learn were never real. History has also been kind to many renowned people who you might be surprised to learn were never genuine. Here are the famous family names you don't know. Here are Famous Household Names. 
Let's take a look at some of history's most renowned persons that were fictitious:

1. Robin Hood

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Even though the noble bandit who stole from the wealthy and gave to the poor is a staple of literature and film, Robin Hood did not exist. References to the legendary archer and swordsman Robin Hood and his Merry Band of outcasts exist two centuries after the time of his alleged lifetime. His very name has been the subject of speculation, with some believing it to be an adaptation of the English derogatory term "Robehod," which is commonly applied to those who breach the law.

2. Pope Joan

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During the Middle Ages, a woman delivered birth in public while dressed as a man's procession, revealing that she had been pretending to be Pope for many years. Her story has been told in literature, theater, and film, although many doubt that she ever existed. Pope Joan was believed to be a real person for decades despite several discrepancies in various accounts; however, experts today believe that she never lived and was likely made up as anti-Catholic propaganda.

3. William Tell

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Everyone in Switzerland has a particular place in their hearts for the folk hero. William Tell, who most likely existed in the 14th century, was an expert marksman who, among other things, shot an apple off his son's head, assassinated a tyrannical official, and regularly stood up to oppressive authority.
Tell is so revered now that November 18 is officially recognized as William Tell Day. Although he is best known for the legendary account of how he shot an apple off his son's head, such a story can be found in several different mythologies and folklore, including Norse mythology. Even if Tell existed, he was probably not mentioned in the early tales except in drawings rather than writings.

4. Betty Crocker

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Betty Crocker, a fictional cook, created by the Washburn-Crosby Company, was used as a marketing strategy to promote various foods and recipes. The character, based on vaudeville performer Adelaide Hawley Cumming, achieved iconic status in American popular culture.
The sweetheart of baking's surname was chosen by one of the board members because the first name was deemed too American. Crocker was treated as a real person and given a signature even though she did not exist. Fortune magazine ranked her as the country's second most popular female in 1945.

5. King Arthur

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The legend of King Arthur, who became king of England after drawing a sword from a stone, is one of Britain's most well-known stories. King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table fought off Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries after he ascended to the throne. Many have concluded that King Arthur was entirely imaginary and was created to reestablish a sense of British pride because his earliest records date back to the 12th century in Geoffrey of Monmouth's fantastic History of the Kings of Britain.

6. Jack Dawson

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There is no doubt that the fictional character Jack Dawson from James Cameron's Titanic (released in 1997) never existed in real life. However, there is an interesting twist: a man named "J. Dawson" did perish in the ship's sinking. Years after he wrote the screenplay, Cameron learned about J. Dawson. There is no documentation explaining J's significance and even J. Dawson's tombstone reads "J. Dawson." Does the letter J stand for Jack by chance?

7. Layla and Majnu

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It's safe to say that the story of Layla and Majnu, as portrayed in the Arabic poem written in the 11th century, is one of the most famous love stories ever told. Through numerous iterations and hundreds of film adaptations, the people of the subcontinent have come to believe that the two lovers genuinely existed. In Binjaur village, close to Anupgarh in India, there is supposedly a mausoleum for Layla and Manju, as incredible as that may sound. Where were the two Arab lovers from, and why did they end up there?

8. Uncle Sam

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The most recognizable picture in the United States depicts a thin, tall, white-bearded man in red, blue, and white clothing pointing directly at the viewer. Samuel Wilson, a meat packer, supplied barrels of beef to the US Army during the War of 1812 between the United States and the United Kingdom. He stamped each barrel with the letter "US."
Soldiers serving in the United States started calling the beef "Uncle Sam's" for whatever reason. Newspapers all over the country picked up on the story, and the federal government was soon given a new moniker. Even though everyone knows Uncle Sam is just a character created for a recruitment poster, he has become the most well-known fictional character in history.