[Make it Lady (OP)]

Why do Americans refer to people with no identity as John Doe or Jane Doe. I understand the John/Jane bit but why DOE?

[LeeE]

Have a read of:

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

[JimBob]

D'OE!

Bart did you do that?? - Homer Simpson

[Make it Lady (OP)]

Have a read of:

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

This doesn't really say why DOE was chosen. Maybe it was a common name back then?!

[LeeE]

The article mentions that other names were also used, but these seem to have subsequently fallen out of use.  My best guess for the name 'Doe' being retained, in preference to the others,  is just because it comes before the others in the alphabet.

[Don_1]

John Doe was the name given to a hypothetical land owner and Richard Doe the name of his hypothetical tenant in a legal paper dating from the reign of Edward III in the 14th C.

The actual name John Doe has no relevance to the hypothetical case in question, which became quite famous in it's day.

I have often wondered if the name 'Doe' now has some relevance to the fact that this name is invariably used in the case of an unidentified corpse, hence it could be an acronym. John or Jane used to identify the gender while Doe could be Dead On Examination.

If this is not the case, then to my mind, it should be and I hereby lay claim to this conception.

[demografx]

Why do Americans refer to people with no identity as John Doe or Jane Doe. I understand the John/Jane bit but why DOE?

Shhh, Make it Lady, it's a Department Of Energy secret! Classified!

[Mazurka]

Why do Americans refer to people with no identity as John Doe or Jane Doe. I understand the John/Jane bit but why DOE?

Shhh, Make it Lady, it's a Department Of Energy secret! Classified!

And I thought it was Department Of Environment...

[Make it Lady (OP)]

John Doe was the name given to a hypothetical land owner and Richard Doe the name of his hypothetical tenant in a legal paper dating from the reign of Edward III in the 14th C.

The actual name John Doe has no relevance to the hypothetical case in question, which became quite famous in it's day.

I have often wondered if the name 'Doe' now has some relevance to the fact that this name is invariably used in the case of an unidentified corpse, hence it could be an acronym. John or Jane used to identify the gender while Doe could be Dead On Examination.

If this is not the case, then to my mind, it should be and I hereby lay claim to this conception.

Then it should be DOA which is commonly used as dead on arrival.

[Carolyn]

Why do Americans refer to people with no identity as John Doe or Jane Doe. I understand the John/Jane bit but why DOE?

What do the British call them?

I have a stalker on another site that calls herself Jane Doe....of course, thats not what I call her.

[Don_1]

What do the British call them?

Stiffs.

[Geezer]

What do the British call them?

Stiffs.

As in;

"He's a little stiff from Rugby."

[Make it Lady (OP)]

Joe Bloggs or John Smith. Not sure about the women.

[Geezer]

What happened to Joe Soap?

[Make it Lady (OP)]

He slipped out of usage.