John Doe

Books that documented and taught the legal profession in England were using the names John Smith, John Doe, Richard Roe, and others as generic placeholder names (for roles, such as plaintiff, defendant, partitioner, etc) by the mid-seventeenth century (perhaps earlier). Compare also Tommy Atkins. (This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

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John Doe

1. (US) A fictitious name used in legal documents for an unknown or anonymous, usually male, person.

   Synonym: Richard Roe

   Coordinate terms: Jane Doe (an unknown female), Jane Roe (an unknown female); Joe Bloggs (chiefly UK and Commonwealth), John Citizen; Juan Doe (an unknown Latino), Juanita Doe (an unknown Latina)

   • 1885, Richard Burton, The Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night, volume 4:

     i.e. "to Tom, Dick or Harry:" the names like John Doe and Richard Roe are used indefinitely in Arab.

John Doe (plural John Does)

1. (US) Any unknown or anonymous, usually male, person.

• so-and-so, what's-his-name, you-know-who