The name John Doe is generally used as a placeholder name for a male party in a legal action or legal discussion whose true identity is unknown. Male corpses or emergency room patients whose identity is unknown are also known by the name John Doe. A female who is not known is referred to as Jane Doe. A child or baby whose identity is unknown can be referred to as Baby Doe or, in one particular case, as Precious Doe. Additional people in the same family may be called James Doe, Judy Doe, etc. This practice is widely used in the United States and Canada, though rarely used in other English-speaking countries. Evan Morris, author of the syndicated column The Word Detective^[1], says he discovered the origin of "John Doe" in the book What's in a Name?, by Paul Dickson.

Dickson says John Doe dates from the reign of England's King Edward III. A famous legal document from this period labels a hypothetical landowner "John Doe," who leases land to a "Richard Roe," who then claims the land as his own and kicks out poor John.^[2] The Oxford English Dictionary states that John Doe is "the name given to the fictitious lessee of the plaintiff, in the (now obsolete) mixed action of ejectment, the fictitious defendant being called Richard Roe". Likewise, the Nuttall Encyclopaedia states that John O'Noakes or John Noakes is a fictitious name for a litigious person, used by lawyers in actions of ejectment.

The Doe names are often, though not always, used for anonymous or unknown defendants. Another set of names often used for anonymous parties, particularly plaintiffs, are Richard Roe for males and Jane Roe for females (as in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision Roe v. Wade).

Even outside the specific legal context, the name John Doe is often used in general discourse and popular culture to refer to an unknown person. A famous example is the Frank Capra film Meet John Doe.

Informal names for unknown or unspecified persons in various countries/regions

Different fictitious names are used for unknown or unspecified persons in different countries in an informal context, rather than in a court of law or similar. These names are generally understood to be generic.

Arabia	Fulan (Arabic: فلان) (female equivalent: Fulanah, فلانة), Ellan (علان) as a partner. Majhoul (Arabic: مجهول). Taken further, it can become Fulan al-Fulani, or even Fulan ibn Fulan al-Fulani, depending on the intention of the speaker.
Argentina	N.N. ("Ningún Nombre" or No Name), Juan Perez, Don Nadie, Fulano (via Arabic), Mengano, Sultano, Perengano, Doña Rosa, Magolla, Pepito
Australia	Fred Nerk, Joe Blow, Joe Bloggs, John Citizen, Joe Farnarkle, John Barry, Simon McCool, Bob Johnson, Mike Ward
Austria	Hans Meier, Hans Maier, Hans Mayer, Max Muster(mann), Eva Muster(mann), Herr und Frau Österreicher
Belgium	Jean Dupont, Jan Janssen, Jos Joskens, Duschmol, Duchien, Monsieur/Madame X, Jan met de pet
Bosnia and Herzegovina	Marko Marković, Petar Petrović, Mujo Mujić
Bolivia	Juan Perez, Pepito, Fulano, Sutano, Mengano
Brazil	Fulano (de Tal), Sicrano, Beltrano, João da Silva, Zé da Silva, Zé Ninguém, Zé das Couves, Dunha, Xpto, Seu Zé.
Bulgaria	Иван Иванов (Ivan Ivanov).
Canada	G. Raymond (male/female, mostly on credit cards and ID, used as it could be either an anglophone or francophone name), John Jones, Jos Bleau (Quebec, French adaptation of Joe Blow), John Smith
Chile	N.N. ("Ningún Nombre" or No Name), Fulano.
China	无名氏 (Pinyin: Wú Míngshì, literally "Mr./Ms. No Name"); 某某 (Pinyin: Mǒu Mǒu, literally "so-and-so"); (using the List of common Chinese surnames with numbers, etc.) 赵大 (Pinyin: Zhào Dà, literally "Zhao Big"), 钱二 (Pinyin: Qián Èr, "Qian 2"), 孙三 (Pinyin: Sūn Sān, "Sun 3"), 张三 (Pinyin: Zhāng Sān, "Zhang 3"), 李四 (Pinyin: Lǐ Sì, "Li 4"), 王五 (Pinyin: Wáng Wǔ, "Wang 5"), ...; (using the Heavenly Stems) 某甲 (Pinyin: Mǒu Jiǎ, literally "a certain A"), 某乙 (Pinyin: Mǒu Yǐ, "a certain B"), 某丙 (Pinyin: Mǒu Bǐng, "a certain C"), ...; 小强，小明...
Colombia	Fulano, Fulano de Tal (probably from Arabic, Fulan), Pepito Pérez, Zutano, Mengano, Perengano, Perencejo
Costa Rica	José Pérez, Fulano de Tal (probably from Arabic, Fulan), Sutano, Mengano, Perencejo
Croatia	Ivan Horvat, Pero Perić, N.N. ("Nepoznati Netko", trns. "Unknown someone")
Cuba	Fulano, Mengano, Ciclano, Esperancejo, Juan Pérez (female equivalents: Fulana, Mengana, Ciclana, Esperanceja, Juana Pérez.) Optional surname: de Tal ("of such")
Czech Republic	Josef Novák, Karel Vomáčka, pan Neznámý (Mr. Unknown)
Cyprus	Bill (The extremely wide range of people listed as missing in action after the Turkish invasion led to the comedic lament: "You'd think it would be a little more specific, someone's got to say 'Where's Bill?'"
Denmark	N.N. (short for Latin nomen nescio, "I don't know the name"). More informally, the term Hr. og Fru Danmark ("Mr. and Mrs. Denmark") is used as a generic name for any average Danish couple (similar to Mr. & Mrs. John Q. Public and Kari og Ola Normann).
Ecuador	Pedro Perez, Fulano, Sultano, Mengano, Juan Piguabe
Euskal Herria	Urlia, sandia, berendia
Estonia	Jaan Tamm (male), Tädi Maali (an old female, literally "Aunt Maali")
Faroe Islands	Miðalhampamaður
Finland	Matti Meikäläinen (male/generic) and Maija Meikäläinen (female)
France	Jean Dupont, Paul Martin, Monsieur Durand, Monsieur Untel/ Madame Unetelle (literally "one such"), Monsieur/Madame X, Pierre-Paul-Jacques as in Tom-Dick-Harry (even though those are three very common, distinct given names, this is often said as a long uninterrupted string, as if an actual composed name: "or" is added in the middle sometimes: "Pierre-Paul-ou-Jacques")
Germany	Hans/Max/Otto and Erika Mustermann (Muster meaning 'sample', "-mann" is common as suffix in German names), which is frequently found on 'examples' of addresses or passports/IDs, as well as Lieschen Müller, Otto Normalverbraucher, Meier/Müller/Schulze, Hinz & Kunz, NN (nomen nescio= "name unknown", nomen nominandum="still to be mentioned is" used in Germany as placeholder in university catalogues and if the name of the prospective person is not yet known)
Greece	Γιώργος Τάδε (Giorgos Tade, male), Μαρία Τάδε (Maria Tade, female), Άγνωστος (Agnostos/Unknown).
Guatemala	Juan Perez, Fulano(a) de Tal, Sutano, Mengano, Perencejo
Hong Kong and Macau	陳大文 (male), 王小明 (boy).
Hungary	Gipsz Jakab (Jacob Gypsum), Teszt Elek (I'm Testing - Elek is an old Hungarian first name), Hát/Háth Izsák (a pun on "hátizsák", meaning "backpack"), Jóska Pista, Kovács 123. János (Kovács János = John Smith, a very common name), Pityi Palkó, Ribizli Gizi (Giselle Currant), Kerti Virág (Blossom Garden), XY
Iceland	Meðal-Jón, Meðal-Jóna, Jón Jónsson, Jóna Jónsdóttir
India	Naamalum (Used in judicial purposes as well for portion of male, female and child alike) नामालुम (in Devanagari). Translates directly into "unknown".
Indonesia	Si Anu / Fulan , Mr. X (for man corpse), Bunga (for victim of sexual harassment)
Iran	Folani (Persian : فُلانی), Felani (Persian : فلانی), Yaroo (Persian : ِیارو)
Ireland	Seán and Síle Citizen; John fecker; Joe Bloggs; Irish: Seán Ó Rudaí, from rud = thing; Tadhg ar an mbus, Tadhg ar an bhus (Tadhg on the bus); Tadhg an Mhargaidh
Israel	Israel Israeli ישראל ישראלי and also Ploni פלוני and Almoni אלמוני (as a party to Ploni) or the latter combined to Ploni Almoni פלוני אלמוני (taken from Ruth 4:1, where it is used in place of the actual name of Boaz's relative, whose name is omitted as he failed to perform his levirate duty). Another name used is Moshe Cohen משה כהן.
Italy	Mario Rossi, Pinco Pallino, Tal dei Tali, Tizio, Caio, Sempronio.
Japan	山田太郎 (Yamada Taro, a common male name), 山田花子 (Yamada Hanako, a common female name), 名無しの権兵衛 (Nanashi-no-Gombee, 名無しの means nameless, and 権兵衛 is a rather old-fashioned male name.), 何野某 (Nanno Nanigashi, old-fashioned))
Korea	홍길동 (洪吉童, Hong Gil-dong; male), 심청 (沈淸, Shim Cheong; female) 철수 (Cheol-soo, male), 영희 (Yeong-hee; female)
Latvia	Jānis Bērziņš
Lithuania	Vardenis Pavardenis, Jonas Jonaitis, Petras Petraitis
Macedonia	Петар Петровски (Petar Petrovski)
Malaysia	Si Anu, Si Polan, Si Polan Bin Si Polan, Mat & Minah
Malta	Joe Borg
Mauritius	Sa Nation la, Sa boug la (for male) ; Sa fame la (for female)
Mexico	Juan/Juanito/Juanita Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Mengano, Perengano, Sutano
Netherlands	Jan Jansen. Jan Modaal is used in a similar way to the English the Joneses, in particular referring to average wealth. Jan-Piet-Klaas used as one word with the meaning of Tom, Dick and Harry. In a police or legal context, an unknown person is indicated as "NN" for nomen nescio (I don't know the name) Source (Dutch language).
Nepal	Ram, Shyam, Hari, and other slangs such as Chamar, Ram Kumar Deshar, Sigdel, and Jyapu.
New Zealand	Joe Bloggs, John Doe, Bob Smith
Nigeria	Lagbaja (Yoruba)
Norway	N.N, Ola Nordmann, Kari Nordmann, Peder Ås, Navn Navnesen
Pakistan	Falana (Male), Falani (Female). This is derived from the Persian equivalent. Also, Naamalum (same as used in india. Infact, this is more apt)
Panama	Fulano de Tal, Sultano, Mengano
Paraguay	Fulano de Tal, Sultano, Mengano, N.N.
Peru	N.N. , Juan López, Fulano de Tal, Mengano, Zutano, Perengano, Perencejo
Philippines	Juan dela Cruz, Juanita dela Cruz
Poland	N.N. ("unknown"--used to refer to e.g. unknown soldiers at war); Jan Kowalski, Jan Nowak (used in the meaning of "everyman", an average citizen)
Portugal	Zé Ninguém, Fulano (de Tal), Sicrano, Beltrano, Zé Povinho.
Puerto Rico	Fulano de Tal, Mengano, or Juan del Pueblo
Romania	Ion Popescu
Russia	Иванов Иван Иванович (Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich), Петров и Сидоров (Petrov and Sidorov), Вася Пупкин (Vasya Pupkin), имярек (old slavonic abbreviation of имя рекомое, that is "name to be spoken". Still usable; not a name, but a reference to a person, usually in context of filling in a form), referring to legal entities - ООО "Ромашка" (OOO "Romashka" - "Сamomile Limited liability company"), ООО "Рога и копыта" (OOO "Roga i Kopyta" - Horns & Hoofs LLC, see The Little Golden Calf)
Serbia	In legal documents, police and court, NN lice (NN person) is used. Everyday equivalents are: Petar Petrović, Pera Perić, Marko Marković, Janko Janković.
Singapore	In humour, everyday equivalents are either: Tan Ah Kao and Tan Ah Beng.
Slovakia	Ján Novák, (humorously) Jožko Mrkvička
Slovenia	Janez Novak
South Africa	Koos van der Merwe, Piet Pompies, Jan Rap
Spain	Fulano, Mengano, Zutano, Sultano, Perengano (in that order), female versions end -a instead of -o, diminutives end -ito, -ita, surname for the first person is "de Tal", "de Cual" is used as surname for a second person; Pepe Pérez, Perico de los Palotes, Don Nadie, Juan Nadie, Juan Español, Rita la pollera.
Swahili	Fulani, Msikiti
Sweden	(Herr/Fru) Svensson, Medelsvensson for the average Swede; Kalle, Olle, Pelle, Nisse and Lisa are pretty common when a name is needed as an example. "Name Name" (Swedish: Namn Namn or NN from Latin Nomen Nescio) is used as a placeholder.
Switzerland	Herr und Frau Schweizer, Hans Meier, Hans Mustermann
Thailand	นาย ก. (Nai Gor, literally Mr. Gor), นาง ก. (Nang Gor, literally Mrs. Gor). Note that ก. (Gor) is the first letter in Thai alphabet. Other people in the story are named after subsequent letters: ข (Kor, with rising tone) ค (Kor, with middle tone), etc.
Turkey	Male names: Ahmet, Mehmet, Ali, Veli, Osman, Hasan, Hüseyin, Yaşar (means "who lives"), Adem (referring to Adam); Female names: Ayşe, Fatma, Zeynep; Surnames: Öztürk, Yılmaz, Kaya, Demir[3]
United Kingdom	Joe Bloggs, John Smith, A N Other, R Punter, "Tom, Dick, and Harry", Ronnie (or Ronny) Arbuckle, Joe Public, Johnny Foreigner, the man on the Clapham omnibus.
Uruguay	Fulano, Mengano; Sultano
USA	John Doe, Jane Doe, John Q. Public, Joe Blow, Joe Schmoe, Joe Sixpack, John Smith, Eddie Punchclock (for blue-collar workers), Joe Botts (particularly in New York City), J. S. Ragman (U. S. Navy), Vinnie Boombotz (particularly in New York City)
Venezuela	Fulano, Fulano de Tal, Sutano, Mengano, Perencejo, Pedro Perez, Juan de los Palotes, Juan Bimba
Vietnam	Người giấu tên, Nguyễn Văn A (male), Trần Thị B (female)

John/Jane Doe in popular culture

Books

• A character named "crow well mountain juniper" (all lowercase) changes his name to "John Doe" in the book Jpod by Douglas Coupland.
• The antagonist in Lincoln Child's "Utopia"
• The main character in Michael Gruber's "Tropic of Night".
• In Tess Gerritsen's book, Vanish, the name on the drowning victim's hospital wristband is Jane Doe
• The girl with no memory in "The Mask" by Dean Koontz.

Comics

• Snoopy (Charlie Brown's dog from the Charles Schulz comic strip Peanuts), in his "world-famous attorney" persona, claimed that "John Doe v. Richard Roe" was his most famous case. The name of this case reverses the usual roles of plaintiff and defendant associated with those names.
• John Doe is a comic, edited in Italy by Eura Editoriale.
• The phonetically similar John Dough was used by the Joker, a DC Comics villain. This pseudonym is notable because in this guise, he was able to convince Snapper Carr, the mascot of the Justice League, to give up the location of their original base, the Secret Sanctuary, prompting a move to the more famous Justice League Satellite.
• A woman calling herself Jane Doe is another of Batman's foes. She infiltrates her victim's lives and then assumes them, usually murdering them soon after. She was a major player in the limited series Arkham Asylum: Living Hell.

Court cases

• The landmark 1973 Supreme Court abortion case Roe v. Wade gets half of its name from Jane Roe, an anonymous plaintiff later revealed to be Norma McCorvey.
• A Toronto woman, publicly known only as Jane Doe, waged an 11-year court battle against the Toronto Police Service after being raped in 1986, alleging that the police had used her as bait to catch the rapist. She won the case in 1998, and was named Chatelaine's Woman of the Year that year. [1] She published a book about her experience, The Story of Jane Doe, in 2003.

• A St. Catharines, Ont. minor known as "Jane Doe" was drugged, raped and sodomized by the notorious Canadian killers Karla Homolka and Paul Bernardo, who videotaped the assault. Her identity remains protected by law.

Film

• In the movie Fletch, Irwin Fletcher writes under the name of Jane Doe.
• Meet John Doe is a film directed by Frank Capra and starring Gary Cooper.
• Jane Doe is the assumed name of an alien character in Galaxy Quest played by actress Missi Pyle.
• John Doe was the pseudonym of a character in the sixth Nightmare on Elm Street film. He was the last teenager in the fictional town of Springwood, Ohio.
• John Doe Jersey is the name given by the press to the incarnation of God in Dogma.
• Johnny Dough, a play on "John Doe," is Dirk Diggler's rival actor in Boogie Nights.
• Jonathan Doe is the name of the serial killer played by Kevin Spacey in Se7en.
• In the HBO series show, The Wire, "John Doe" appears on the board at a Homicide Unit in the last episode of season 5.
• In Steven Seagal film Hard to Kill, Seagal's character 'Mason Storm', while in a coma, has the name John Doe on his hospital bed.
• In movie Murder by Numbers Sandra Bullock uses Jane Doe to identify a murder victim.
• 1968's Bullitt sees a man murdered under the protection of protagonist Frank Bullitt placed under the name John Doe to suppress news of the man's death reaching Bullitt's superiors.

Music

• John Doe was the stage name of John Duchac, founder of seminal punk rock band X.
• Jacoby Shaddix of Papa Roach (American rock band) fame used "J. Doe" as his stage name for his side-project band, Fight The Sky.
• "Another John Doe" is a song by thenewno2 from their unreleased album You Are Here.
• "John Doe" is a song from the thrash metal band Testament on their album Demonic.
• "Jane Doe" is a song by hard rock band Mr. Big from their album Hey Man released in 1996.
• "Jane Doe" is a song by symphonic metal band Within Temptation
• "Jane Doe" is a song by Alicia Keys
• "Jane Doe" is a song by Nik Kershaw from the album To Be Frank
• Jane Doe is an album by metalcore band Converge
• Richard Roe won the first Vibe Magazine Verses contest with Old Skooly High.
• The Red Hot Chili Peppers twice refer to Doe, in the song "Midnight" they sing : "Like the fear, that's in the eyes of every Doe | Say it now 'cause John and Jane would like to know" and in "Good Time Boys": "if you don't believe me you can ask John Doe 'cause his heart is made of glory and his voice is made of gold".
• "Johndoe" is a Norwegian rock band.
• "Jane Doe", an American band.
• P.O.D. uses the line, "Dread at the controls, label 'em John Doe" repeatedly in their song "Sounds Like War."
• John Doe is referred to in the song Just Another Victim on the Judgement Night soundtrack.
• John Doe is mentioned in song "Unbelievable" by Christian Nu Metal band, Thousand Foot Krutch

John Doe is mentioned in the song "Honor" by juggalo recording artist's A.M.B. on the album "Blood in Blood out."

• Both John and Jane Doe are mentioned in the Garnet Crow song "Holding you, and swinging."

Television

• John Doe is a 2002 Fox Broadcasting Company series starring Dominic Purcell, currently playing on the SciFi Channel. This short-lived television show is named after the name of the main character, who's a man with extreme knowledge of everything in the world, except his own name. In 21 episodes he tries to discover his name, while working on difficult police cases. The series was aborted after the last (cliffhanger) episode.
• "John Doe" is the title of an X-Files episode (Season 9, Episode 7)
• "John Doe" is the title of a Prison Break episode (Season 2, Episode 14)
• "Baby Boy Doe" is the title of a Family Ties episode (Season 2, Episode 19)
• Many unidentified victims in the crime drama series CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (all shows, including spin-offs) are called John and Jane Doe until their ID is found.
• Jane Doe is a series of made-for-TV movies on the Hallmark Channel starring Lea Thompson.
• "Jane Doe" is the leader of the "Squirrel Scouts" in the animated series "Camp Lazlo"; the name is a pun on the fact that she is in fact a female deer.
• "Jane Doe" is the name given to a character who has no memory of her past in Grey's Anatomy.
• "John Doe" is the name given to a character who actually called Tempus in Lois And Clark.
• "Jane Doe" is the name given to Claire Bennet when she "dies" in episode four (Collision) of TV series Heroes.
• "Jane Doe" is the name given to an unknown identity of a murdered victim in the show Bones.
• "John" and "Jane" Doe are often used in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
• "John Dough" is the name used by Swami River to rent a post office box in the Mathnet episode "The Case of the Swami Scam."
• "Jane Doe" is the name given to an unknown victim in NCIS. Ducky kept her cremated remains for 10 years in the morgue.
• "Jane Doe" is the name given to 14 an unknown victims in The Wire. They are found dead in a container can down in the harbour, and that is the starting point for the second season of the series.
• "Jane Doe" is the name given to Angela Martin in The Office (US TV series) series 3 episode 1 The Convention for the room reservation with Dwight Shrute.
• Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (Original and Criminal Intent) John and Jane Doe are used in the hospitals and in the morgue.
• Shawn Spencer asks to see a John Doe in a hospital when a runner from a retirement facility goes missing on the show "Psych"
• John Doe is a character who tries to be "as statistically normal as possible" on the television series jPod.
• "Jane Doe" is the name given to Janet York in 24 Season 1 Episode 5 when she is taken to hospital after being hit by a car. In the very next episode a man is referred to as "John Doe" while they are trying to find his identity. This man later turns out to be Alan York, the father of the earlier "Jane Doe" Janet York.

Video games

• Jane Doe is the name of an unknown quest character in the computer game MapleStory.
• In Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, Naked Snake uses the pseudonym "John Doe" when asked for his name by Para-Medic. When Snake asks for her name, Para-Medic sarcastically retorts "Jane Doe".
• In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Justice for All, assassin Shelly de Killer disguises himself as a Butler, and when asked his name, he replies "John Doe."
• In Twisted Metal: Black, an amnesiac character is named John Doe.
• In Microsoft Combat Flight Simulator 3: Battle for Europe, John Doe is the default name present in the naming fields when creating a new pilot.
• In Rainbow Six series Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six 3: Raven Shield , John Doe is the default name for player when creating multiplayer profile.

References

1. The Word Detective
2. What's In A Name, Merriam-Webster(1996)ISBN-13: 978-0877796138
3. Name Stats of Turkish Department of Population, Ministery of Internal Affirs

See also

• Everyman
• Legal fiction
• Numerius Negidius
• A. N. Other
• N.N. (Nomen nescio)
• Pseudonym
• John Smith
• Keeping up with the Joneses
• Placeholder name
• Alan Smithee
• Jock Tamson's bairns
• Ola Nordmann
• Hong Gildong

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Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "John Doe". Image Credit.

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