John Doe

[Squirrel]

Just saw an advert for a future TV series with this name, but I'm sure I've heard 'John Doe' mentioned many times before on films and things, so is there any special significance to the name, or is it a joke or something?

[PaulB]

The only time I've heard John Doe mentioned is on films when someone has been killed and they can't identify the body so they name it John Doe.. I think....

[darth vader]

John Doe (or Jane Doe if female) is the name given to any deceased person that cannot be identified. I'd always assumed it was derived from the initials which stood for "Just Died" but according to this link there is no known reason why the name was adopted for anonymous individuals. http://www.quinion.com/words/qa/qa-joh2.htm

[darth vader]

sorry that wasn't worded very well. I meant there was no significant reason why the name [John Doe] was adopted for anonymous individuals, over any other name

[Squirrel]

Thanks. It even said something on the advert about a man not knowing who he was, so that clears that up.

[carlos]

I don't know where I heard this, but I think John Doe came from an unidentified body that was found dumped in the Hudson river, in th U.S. It took a long time for the body to be identified, so when the name was found, John Doe, it became slang for any unidentified body. This became Jane Doe in a female's case. Like I say, I'm not sure where I heard this, so I can't offer any proof.

[Waterwolf]

I always thought John/Jane Doe was the American equivalent of Joe Bloggs (i.e. the generic 'man on the street').