How did we come up with the name "John Doe" for dead people that can't be identified?

Question

Also, wouldn't it be funny if your name actually was John Doe?

And, Dear John letters, why is the name John always picked?

Answer 1

Traditionally a letter from a woman to a boyfriend/husband telling him that their relationship was over, because the woman had found somebody else was normally addressed Dear John. It was invented in World War 2 by the Americans. The reason it was called Dear John was quite simply because it was a common generic name used during that era. If the letter was addressed Dear John the man knew instantly that it was bad news. Because many men were stationed away from home at this particular time they grew to expect Dear John letters and many didn't even bother to open them.

Q2 - John Doe is used for any person who is unable to be identified. This dates back to the reign of Englands, King Edward 111, during a legal order over something called the, "Acts of Ejectment". This involved a hypothetical landowner called Richard Doe, who then took the land as his own and evicted John Doe.
There is no particular significance apart from Doe, (a female deer) and Roe (a small species of deer found in Europe). As they were commonly known at that time. The debate became a hallmark of legal theory and the name John Doe gained undue currency in the legal world, and general usage as a generic stand in for any person unknown or unnamed.
John and Richard Doe are also used to this day mandated in legal procedure as the first and second names given to unknown defendants in a case.
Because of this name in both Q1 and Q2 there is also a female version, Dear Jane, and Jane Doe, referring obviously to males writing to females and unknown female defendants. Perhape we should bring it up to date a little and use the name Jack for a man and Bethany for a woman!!!!! Hope this answers your question. Boring I know.

Answer 2

there once was a man with a strange disease that made him always look dead. This mans name was john doe. during the war, he enlisted in the service, but kept getting mistaken for real life dead people.

Who's that?.

ahh, thats john doe, don't stare, he has some kind of condition...

Answer 3

In the UK we have Joe Bloggs, at one point this would have been an incredibly common name (also john smith) so it is used to represwnt 'every tom, dick and harry' out there! Just a name that people can call on.

Answer 4

My name is John Doe. It's really frustrating. I can't fall asleep without some feckwit tying a piece of string with a tag on it to my big toe.
And people always talk about me as if I'm not there. They say things like "We'll have to find his dental records," or "Has any one reported him missing yet?" Oi!! I'm right here!! Get away from me with that bone saw, I swear to god....

Answer 5

Answer here: : http://ididnotknowthatyesterday.blogspot.com/2005/10/who-is-john-doe.html

copy of the post:

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.


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.
Basque Country Iñaki, Patxi.
Belgium Jan Janssen, Piet Pietersen, Jos Joskens
Brazil Beltrano, Ciclano, Fulano, Zé ninguém, João da Silva, Zé da
Silva, João Ninguém, Maria Ninguém
Canada G. Raymond
China 陈小明 (Mandarin: Chen Xiao Ming / Cantonese: Chan Siu Ming), 某某(人)
(Pinyin: Mǒumǒu(rén)), lit. someone, sometimes used with surname of
the person
Colombia Fulano de Tal, Pepito Pérez;
Croatia Ivan Horvat, Pero Perić
Czech Republic Jan Novák, Karel Vomáčka
Denmark Morten Menigmand
Egypt Folan (arabic: فلان) (female equivalent: Folana, فلانة), Elan
(علان) as a partner.
Estonia Jaan Tamm, Tädi Maali
Faroe Islands Miðalhampamaður
Finland Matti Meikäläinen (male/generic) and Maija Meikäläinen (female)
France Jean Dupont, Paul Martin, Monsieur Durand
Germany Max and Erika Mustermann, Lieschen Müller, Otto
Normalverbraucher, Detlef Müller
Hungary Gipsz Jakab, Kovács János, Jóska Pista
Indonesia Si Polan
Iceland Meðal-Jón, Meðal-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, Tizio, Caio, Sempronio
Japan 山田太郎 (Yamada Taro), 山田花子 (Yamada Hanako), 名無しの権兵衛
(Nanashi-no-Gombei), 何野某(Nanno Nanigashi), (drowned corpses both
sexes, 土左衛門 Dozaemon)
Korea 홍길동 (Hong, Gil-dong)
Latvia Jānis Bērziņš
Lithuania Vardenis Pavardenis, Jonas Jonaitis, Petras Petraitis
Mexico Juan Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Mangano, Perengano, Zutano
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. "John D."; 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 Manuel Dos Santos, 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
Slovakia Jožko Mrkvička
Slovenia Janez Novak
South Africa Koos van der Merwe
Spain Pepe Pérez, Pedro Pérez, Fulano, Fulanito, Mengano, Menganito,
Zutano, Zutanito
Sweden Kalle Svensson, Medelsvensson
Switzerland Herr und Frau Schweizer, Hans Meier, Hans Mustermann
Thailand Somchai, Sommai, Nai-Gor
Turkey Arparslan Türkeþ
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, John
Smith (which has largely been replaced with John Doe) The female
equivalent is Jane Doe or Mary Major. A second male suspect is dubbed
Richard Roe, and subsequent ones are referred to as John Stiles and
Richard Miles.
Vietnam Người dấu tên

Answer 6

this is a damn good question! its like Joe Bloggs? Who is he? Why was he created? What purpose did he serve? My English teacher always used him in examples. It drove me nuts.

Answer 7

Not exactly sure why, but these websites might help.

I actually have a cousin named Johnny Do...close enough. :)

Answer 8

not sure,but curious to find out.