What Does JJ Stand for in ‘Outer Banks’? The Top Fan Theories

What’s the biggest mystery on Netflix’s hit teen drama Outer Banks? Is it the location of El Dorado, the lost city of gold? Maybe it’s whether John B (Chase Stokes) and Sarah Cameron (Madelyn Cline) will stay together? No, there’s only one mystery worthy of the OBX name, and that is a, er, name: what does JJ stand for in Outer Banks??

It’s a question that’s plagued fans of the show since the first episode hit Netflix in 2020, introducing the world to the poor little Pogues of Outer Banks, North Carolina. We met John B (called that while his father is known as “Big John”), Sarah Cameron (full name always necessary), Kiara Carrera, nicknamed “Kie,” and Pope Heyward, who doesn’t have a nickname because Pope is already pretty weird as a regular name.

But what about Rudy Pankow‘s JJ Maybank? What’s with the JJ? What does it mean? Is it yet another code in a series of hidden messages on the show? Let’s get into it.

What Does JJ Stand for in Outer Banks? The Top Fan Theories

Three seasons later, and the best reasoning behind why JJ is called “JJ” is that it’s to differentiate him from John B; specifically that his name is also John: John J. Maybank. Full disclosure: I personally have been so Mandela Effect-ed by this fact, I can distinctly remember a scene in the premiere episode of the show where they explain JJ also being named John; yet no such scene exists?

Anyway, it’s logical to think that way too many folks in this small community would be named John, and they would become friends, and their friends would give them goofy nicknames so they could tell them apart.

There are other theories, though. One is that his full name is Jesse James Maybank, which matches the outlaw, roguish nature of the character.

Another in a Reddit thread noted that his name might be short for Jar Jar. I briefly tried to justify this by seeing if, on the off-chance JJ’s parents were die-hard Star Wars fans, they could have named him Jar Jar before The Phantom Menace hit theaters; but unless the canonically teen JJ is a secret 24-year-old, meesa thinkin’ that’s probably not accurate.

There is one other possibility, though, and that it’s that his name is simply… JJ. Not to pass broad judgment, but it’s been pretty clearly established that JJ’s father suuuuuuucks. He’s drunken white trash, and him or his wife scribbling”JJ” on a birth certificate honestly sort of tracks with the milieu of the show, and the character’s family the way he’s been explained.

But most likely? We may never know. It’s a fun question, but until Outer Banks season 4 decides to take on the mystery of Blackbeard’s treasure AND Jesse James’ hidden gold (or they attempt to reclaim a ruby-studded Jar Jar model from Skywalker Ranch), JJ is just gonna be JJ.