‘Full House:’ Uncle Jesse’s Name Was Almost ‘Adam,’ Until John Stamos Had an Elvis-Inspired Idea

This character is obsessed with Elvis, so it only makes sense that he would be named after a member of the King’s family. Here’s what we know about why John Stamos asked to change Uncle Jesse’s name in the beloved comedy series, Full House.

Uncle Jesse on ‘Full House’ wasn’t actually named ‘Uncle Jesse’ at first

There are plenty of characters living in this San Francisco home. The beloved sitcom, Full House, premiered in 1987, introducing fans to the guitar-playing, motorcycle-riding, effortlessly cool Uncle Jesse, portrayed by John Stamos. Before the show’s debut, though, this character had a different name. 

According to Screenrant, “originally, [the character] was Adam Cochran during production, however, the actor didn’t like the first name so it became Jesse as per the actor’s request, so when [the] sitcom debuted on ABC, he was referred to as Jesse Cochran.”

IMDb reported that this name change was actually inspired by Elvis, the favorite singer of Stamos’ character, Jesse Cochran. The rock iconic was born with a twin brother who died soon after birth with the name Jesse.

Uncle Jesse’s name changed a few times throughout ‘Full House’

The switch from “Adam” to “Jesse” wouldn’t be the only time that this character’s name changed. During the beginning of season 2, at the request of Stamos, Uncle Jesse’s name changed again. 

This time, his last name went from “Cochran” to “Katsopolis,” reflecting the actor’s proud Greek-American heritage. However, “Jesse” isn’t technically even this character’s real first name. 

During one episode, the Uncle revealed to his family that his birth name is actually Hermes, named after a Greek god and Jesse’s great-grandfather. Of course, the girls in his family laughed, but this character wasn’t joking and explained that he was teased in kindergarten so he begged his parents to rename him

Uncle Jesse reappears in the Netflix spinoff series, titled ‘Fuller House’

Throughout Full House’s run, Uncle Jesse appeared as a “Junior Dad,” helping Danny Tanner raise his three girls.

He was also the owner of a nightclub and the artist behind the No. 1 hit in Japan, his cover of the Beach Boys’ song, “Forever.” Stamos returned to reprise this role in the Netflix spinoff series, Fuller House.

Uncle Jesse is still married to Rebecca in this series. Now that Nicky and Alex are grown up, they’ve adopted a daughter. They don’t live in the house anymore but still visit DJ and Stephanie Tanner on holidays and special occasions. 

To watch John Stamos in Full House, fans can head to Hulu. There, every episode of the sitcom is available for binge-watching. Episodes of this Netflix original spinoff series, Fuller House, are available on the streaming platform.