The name John Doe is generally used as a placeholder name for a male party in a legal action or legal discussion whose true identity is unknown. Male corpses or emergency room patients 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 or baby whose identity is unknown can be referred to as Baby Doe or, in one particular case, as Precious Doe. Additional people in the same family may be called James Doe, Judy Doe, etc. This practice is widely used in the United States of America, though rarely used in other English-speaking countries (with the exception of Canada). Evan Morris, author of the syndicated column The Word Detective , says he discovered the origin of "John Doe" in the book What's in a Name?, by Paul Dickson.
Dickson says John Doe dates from the reign of England's King Edward III (1312-1377). A famous legal document from this period labels a hypothetical landowner "John Doe," who leases land to a "Richard Roe," who then claims the land as his own and kicks out poor John. 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 Encyclopaedia states that John O'Noakes or John Noakes is a fictitious name for a litigious person, used by lawyers in actions of ejectment.
The Doe names are often, though not always, used for anonymous or unknown defendants. Another set of names often used for anonymous parties, particularly plaintiffs, are Richard Roe for males and Jane Roe for females (as in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court abortion decision Roe v. Wade).
Even outside the specific legal context, the name John Doe is often used in general discourse and popular culture to refer to an unknown person. A famous example is the Frank Capra film Meet John Doe.
John Doe is an American television series that aired on The Fox Network during the 2002–2003 TV season.
John Doe (born John Nommensen Duchac on February 25, 1953 in Decatur, Illinois) is an American singer, songwriter and bass player who was the founder of the seminal L.A. punk band X. His musical compositions and performances are varied, including country and folk music. Doe also performs with the country-folk-punk band The Knitters. In the early 1980s, Doe performed on two albums by fellow L.A punk band The Flesh Eaters. In addition to performing with members of The Blasters and punk-poet Chris D. on these albums, he also performed with future X band mate D. J. Bonebrake.
He is also a well-known film and television actor, notably playing Jeff Parker in the Roswell television series. Some of the films that he's appeared in are Road House, Roadside Prophets, Salvador, Great Balls of Fire!, Boogie Nights, The Specials, The Good Girl and Pure Country. He was also in music videos for The Doors' "L.A. Woman" and The Ramones' "Something To Believe In" with the other members of X.
The album Forever Hasn't Happened Yet was chosen as one of Amazon.com's Top 100 Editor's Picks of 2005.
