John Doe
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John Doe is the name of:
- John Doe (musician and actor) (born February 25, 1954)
- John Doe (Television series)
- John Doe (comics)
In the USA, the name John Doe is used for a defendant or victim in a legal example or for a person whose identity is unknown or is intended to be anonymous. Male corpses 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 whose identity is unknown is referred to as Precious Doe or Baby Doe. Additional people in the same family may be called James Doe, Judy Doe, etc.
An anonymous plaintiff is known as Richard Roe, or Jane Roe in the case of a woman.
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".
An account of the reasons why a fictitious tenant and a fictitious defendant were named is found in Charles Rembar's book The Law of the Land.
By extension from the law usage, John Doe is often used in computer software needing a default or example first and last name for a form.
There is also a movie, directed by Frank Capra, starring Gary Cooper, called Meet John Doe. It is a political drama.
John Doe in various countries
| Australia | Fred Nurk, Joe Farnarkle, John Citizen |
| Austria | Hans Meier, Hans Maier, Hans Mayer, Herr und Frau Österreicher |
| Argentina | Juan Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Fulano, Mengano, Menganito. |
| Belgium | Jan Janssen, Piet Pietersen |
| Brazil | Beltrano, Ciclano, Fulano, Zé ninguém, Joăo da Silva, Zé da Silva, Joăo Ninguém, Maria Ninguém |
| Canada | G. Raymond |
| China | 陈小明 (Mandarin: Chen Xiao Ming / Cantonese: Chan Siu Ming) |
| Colombia | Fulano de Tal, Pepito Pérez; |
| Croatia | Ivan Horvat, Pero Perić |
| Czech Republic | Jan Novák, Karel Vomáčka |
| Denmark | Morten Menigmand |
| Faroe Islands | Miđalhampamađur |
| Finland | Matti and Maija Meikäläinen |
| France | Jean Dupont, Monsieur Durand |
| Germany | Max and Erika Mustermann, Lieschen Müller, Otto Normalverbraucher, Detlef Müller |
| Hungary | Gipsz Jakab , Kovács János |
| Indonesia | Si Polan |
| Iceland | Međal-Jón, Međal-Jóna, Jón Jónsson, Jóna Jónsdóttir |
| India | Ashok Kumar, (female equivalent unknown) |
| Republic of Ireland | Seán and Síle Citizen |
| Israel | Israel Israeli ישראל ישראלי and also Ploni פלוני and Almoni (as a party to Ploni), Moshe Kohen משה כהן |
| Italy | Mario Rossi |
| Japan | 山田太郎 (Yamada Taro), 山田花子 (Yamada Hanako), 名無しの権兵衛 (Nanashi-no-Gombei) |
| Korea | 홍길동 (Hong, Gil-dong) |
| Latvia | Jānis Bērziņš |
| Lithuania | Vardenis Pavardenis, Jonas Jonaitis, Petras Petraitis |
| Mexico | Juan Pérez |
| Malaysia | Si Anu, Si Polan, Si Polan Bin Si Polan |
| Malta | Joe Borg |
| Netherlands | a defendant is referred to with first name and initial, e.g. "Mohamed B."; Jan Modaal is approximately the Joneses, in particular referring to average wealth |
| Norway | Ola and Kari Nordmann |
| Peru | Juan Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Zutano, Mengano |
| Philippines | Juan dela Cruz |
| Poland | Jan Kowalski, Jan Nowak (but in legal/police work person unknown is NN) |
| Portugal | Zé Ninguém |
| Romania | Xulescu, Cutare Cutărică |
| Russia | Иванов (Ivanov), Петров-Сидоров (Petrov and Sidorov), Вася Пупкин (Vasya Pupkin), Вася Тапочкин (Vasya Tapochkin) |
| Serbia and Montenegro | Petar Petrovic |
| Slovenia | Janez Novak |
| South Africa | Koos van der Merwe |
| Spain | Pedro Perez, Fulano, Mengano, Zutano |
| Sweden | Medel-Svensson, Sven Svensson, Kalle Kula |
| Switzerland | Herr und Frau Schweizer, Hans Meier, Hans Mustermann |
| Thailand | Somchai, Sommai, Nai-Gor |
| United Kingdom | Fred Bloggs or Joe Bloggs, John Smith |
| Uruguay | Fulano, Mengano; Juan Perez |
| USA | John Doe, Jane Doe, Precious Doe, Baby Doe, John Q. Public, Joe Blow, Joe Sixpack, Sally Sixpack, John Smith (which has largely been replaced with John Doe) |
| Vietnam | Nguoi La |
See also
- Legal fiction
- Numerius Negidius
- A. N. Other
- Pseudonym
- John Smith
- John Q. Public
- Alice and Bob
- Keeping up with the Joneses
- Placeholder name
- Alan Smithee
Jane Doe is also the name of:
- a song by hard rock band Mr. Big from their album Hey Man released in 1996.
- a 2001 album by extreme metal band Converge.
- a character in Galaxy Quest (not, obviously, her real name).
- the name of the serial killer in the movie Se7en (again, not his real name)de:John Doe