John Doe

From Free net encyclopedia

For other uses, see John Doe (disambiguation).

In the United States, 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. The jargonized vernacular name is Joe Schmoe.

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". Likewise, the Nuttall encyclopedia states that John O'Noakes or John Noakes is a fictitious name for a litigious person, used by lawyers in actions of ejectment.

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.

In Friedman v. Ferguson, 850 F.2d 689 (4th Cir. 1988), the plaintiff pro se somewhat famously used the following creative variations on John Doe: Brett Boe, Carla Coe, Donna Doe, Frank Foe, Grace Goe, Harry Hoe, Marta Moe, Norma Noe, Paula Poe, Ralph Roe, Sammy Soe, Tommy Toe, Vince Voe, William Woe, Xerxes Xoe.

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John Doe in various countries/regions

United Kingdom In a court of law, the expression "person (or persons) unknown" would be used for somebody whose identity was not known, rather than a fictitious name. A specific person involved in a court case whose identity is not to be made public is often referred to as Child B, Soldier A, Mr X, etc. The man on the Clapham omnibus is used in legal circles as a generic term for the behaviour and level of education of a "normal" person.
USA John Doe, Jane Doe, Precious Doe, Baby Doe, John Smith (which has largely been replaced with John Doe) The female equivalent is Jane Doe or Mary Major. A second male is dubbed Richard Roe, and subsequent ones are referred to as John Stiles and Richard Miles.
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Informal names for unknown or unspecified persons in various countries/regions

Note: this section perhaps needs moving to a new article

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)
Argentina Juan Pérez, Don Nadie, Fulano, Mengano, Zutano or Sultano.
Australia Fred Nerk, Joe Blow, Joe Bloggs, John Citizen, Joe Farnarkle, John Barry
Austria Hans Meier, Hans Maier, Hans Mayer, Max Muster(mann), Herr und Frau Österreicher
Belgium Jean Dupont, Jan Janssen, Jos Joskens, Duschmol, Duchien
Bosnia and Herzegovina Marko Markovic, Petar Petrovic, Sima Simic
Brazil Fulano (de Tal), Sicrano, Beltrano, João da Silva, Zé da Silva, Zé Ninguém.
Canada G. Raymond (male/female, mostly on credit cards and ID, used as could be either an anglophone or francophone name), John Jones, Jos Bleau (Quebec, French adaptation of Joe Blow)
Catalan Countries Fulanet (male) / Fulaneta (female), Menganet (male) / Menganeta (female).
Chile Juan Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Perico de los Palotes
China 无名氏 (Pinyin: Wúmíng Shì, literality some one noname); 某某某 (Pinyin: Mǒu Mǒu Mǒu, literaly meaning random random random); 赵大 (Pinyin: Zhào Dà), 钱二 (Pinyin: Qián Èr), 孙三 (Pinyin: Sūn Sān, 李四 (Lǐ Sì), ... (The name order by 百家姓, added chinese number); 张三 (Pinyin: Zhāng Sān), 李四 (Pinyin: Lǐ Sì), 王五 (Pinyin: Wáng Wǔ), ... ; 某甲 (Pinyin: Mǒu Jiǎ literally Someone A, 甲, 乙, 丙, 丁,... are Heavenly Stems), 某乙 (Pinyin: Mǒu Yǐ), 某丙 (Pinyin: Mǒu Bǐng), 小强，小明...
Colombia Fulano de Tal (probably from Arabic, Fulan), Pepito Pérez, Sultano, Mengano, Perencejo
Croatia Ivan Horvat, Pero Perić, N.N. ("Nepoznati Netko", trns. "Unknown someone")
Czech Republic Jan Novák, Karel Vomáčka, Franta Vopršálek
Denmark N.N.
Ecuador Juan Perez, Fulano, Sultano, Mengano
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/Madame Untel
Germany Hans/Max/Otto and Erika Mustermann, Lieschen Müller, Otto Normalverbraucher, Meier/Müller/Schulze, NN
Greece Γιώργος Τάδε (male), Μαρία Τάδε (female), Τάδε Ταδόπουλος, ο Δείνα, ο Φούφουτος, Ένας Κάποιος, Γιάννης Φάλας
Guatemala Juan Pérez, Fulano, Sultano, Mengano, Perencejo
Hong Kong and Macau 陳大文
Hungary Gipsz Jakab, Kovács János, Jóska Pista, Gádoros Miska
Iceland Meðal-Jón, Meðal-Jóna, Jón Jónsson, Jóna Jónsdóttir
India Ashok Kumar, (female equivalent unknown)
Indonesia Si Anu / Fulan
Iran Folani, Felani
Ireland Seán and Síle Citizen
Israel Israel Israeli ישראל ישראלי and also Ploni פלוני and Almoni אלמוני (as a party to Ploni) or the latter combined to Ploni Almoni (taken from Ruth 4:2, 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), Moshe Kohen משה כהן;, and Dani דני (usually a little boy).
Italy Mario Rossi, Pinco Pallino, Tal dei Tali, 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
Lebanon Majhoul (arabic: مجهول), Folan (arabic: فلان) (female equivalent: Folana, فلانة), Elan (علان) as a partner.
Lithuania Vardenis Pavardenis
Macedonia Петар Петровски
Malaysia Si Anu, Si Polan, Si Polan Bin Si Polan, Mat & Minah
Malta Joe Borg
Mexico Juan Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Mengano, Perengano, Sultano
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
New Zealand Joe Bloggs, John Doe, Joe Blow
Norway N.N, Ola Nordmann, Kari Nordmann
Pakistan Falana (Male), Falani (Female). This is derived from the Persian equivalent
Paraguay Juan Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Sultano, Mengano, N.N.
Peru Juan Pérez, Fulano de Tal, Sultano, 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 Ion Popescu
Russia Иванов Иван Иванович (Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich), Петров и Сидоров (Petrov and Sidorov), Вася Пупкин (Vasya Pupkin), имярек (old slavonic, yet still usable; not a name, but a reference to a person)
Serbia and Montenegro Petar Petrović, Pera Perić
Singapore Ah Beng
Slovakia Jožko Mrkvička
Slovenia Janez Novak
South Africa Koos van der Merwe
Spain Fulano de Tal, Pepe Pérez, Pedro Pérez, Juan Nadie, Fulano, Fulanito, Mengano, Menganito, Zutano, Zutanito, Sultano, Sultanito, Don Nadie
Sweden (Herr/Fru) Svensson, Medelsvensson for the average Swede; N.N. as placeholder in formal contexts; Kalle, Olle, Pelle, Nisse and Lisa are pretty common when a name is needed as an example.
Switzerland Herr und Frau Schweizer, Hans Meier, Hans Mustermann
Thailand Nai-gor (นาย ก), Nai-Kor (นาย ข) which gor (ก) and (ข) are the first two characters of Thai alphabet
Turkey Ali Veli Konya
United Kingdom Joe Bloggs, John Smith. Also A N Other, R Punter.
Uruguay Fulano, Mengano; Juan Perez
USA John Q. Public, Joe Blow
Vietnam Người dấu tên, Nguyễn Văn A (male), Nguyễn Thị B (female)
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John/Jane Doe in popular culture

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See also

fi:Matti Meikäläinen fr:John Doe ja:名無しの権兵衛 lt:Vardenis Pavardenis pl:Jan Kowalski sv:John Doe th:จอห์น โด zh:無名氏

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