Monterey Jack cheese got its name from a real person named David Jack, a Scottish-born land speculator and business man who lived in California in the mid-to-late 1800s. Like all wealthy businessmen of the time, and now, David Jack was a true asshole and hated by many. However, the cheese likely did not originate with him but instead with the Boronda family of Carmel Valley.
The competing legends of Monterey Jack [SF Chronicle]