John Doe and Dear John

[johnbjohn]

Can antone tell me where and why John Doe and Dear
John originated from, and what does Doe mean

[kempie]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Doe

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dear_John_letter

[Bellringer]

Don't know about Dear John. But, John Doe caomes from the days when 2 people had to witness a wedding. A couple of chaps would br dragged in off the street and would sign the book as "John Doe & "Richard Roe" Obviously these were not their real names so they couldn't be traced and charged with anything.

[kempie]

The requirement for two witnesses to be present to ensure the validity of a marriage was set down by the Council of Trent in 1563 and is still in force.

John Doe and Richard Roe predate this by more than two centuries. They appear as fictitious parties in the debates of the mid 1300s leading to the Acts of Ejectment.