# Does Anyone Really Know A John Or Jane Doe? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339 "2003-06-25T18:51:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DMark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DMark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DMark)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/1 "2003-06-25T18:51:21Z")
The names John Doe and Jane Doe are commonly used in law as generic names to be filled in at a later date with real names. I believe the names were chosen as they were common names, yet I don’t believe I have ever met a single person with the last name of DOE, let alone a John or Jane Doe. ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/2 "2003-06-25T20:18:12Z")
Not yet met one, not sure to believe that they exist, but our phone book shows a John as well as a John, Jr., with a Dick to boot. (Hmmmm?) No addresses shown, just numbers, so maybe bogus. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/3 "2003-06-26T00:44:25Z")
Yes, I work with a girl called Jane Doe (although here in the UK, I don’t think ‘doe’ is used in the same way as a generic replacement for an unknown name) - Doe is not her maiden name. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/4 "2003-06-26T01:06:21Z")
A quick look through google came up with the John and Mary Doe Family endowment in Marin Community and a Doe Family Trust in Massachusetts. There seem to be a few Doe family members around New Hampshire started by John W. Doe back in the late 17-hundreds. So it should be possible to know a John or Jane Doe. I ain’t one of 'em. However, legal tradition holds that Doe is the plaintiff and Roe is the Defendant (as in Roe vs. Wade) and I HAVE know a few of the Roe family, including a Jane (okay, Janet). ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/5 "2003-06-26T06:10:26Z")
Not just in law. Confused or psychotic patients w/no ID (& who don’t give their name) who end up in hospitals, are part of the Doe family. I met Preacher Ror, ex-Dodger ,& Tommy Roe, 1st bubble gum singer. Never met a Doe, though. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/6 "2003-06-26T06:18:55Z")
[Why](http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20020923.html) the names were chosen. > [@](#): > > The phrase is older than you might think. “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 names don’t have any particular relevance, other than the fact that a doe is a female deer, while a roe is a smaller species of deer. But the land dispute in question became a famous legal debate, and the names survived their circumstances. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/7 "2003-06-26T12:00:27Z")
Should be Jane Smith. I went out with one for years. ---
**Author:** ![doctordoowop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ecc23a/32.png) [@doctordoowop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doctordoowop)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/8 "2003-06-26T14:03:10Z")
I always thought roe meant fish eggs. ---
**Author:** ![voguevixen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5ac83/32.png) [@voguevixen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voguevixen)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/9 "2003-06-26T17:58:13Z")
No doe/roes, but I went to HS with a John Smith. ---
**Author:** ![WhiteyFoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/3e96dc/32.png) [@WhiteyFoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhiteyFoo)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/10 "2003-06-26T19:27:28Z")
My step-uncle is John Doe. Works/worked at West Point as a professor. ---
**Author:** ![ruadh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/d2c977/32.png) [@ruadh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ruadh)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/11 "2003-06-26T19:48:50Z")
My brother had a friend in high school named Anthony Doe. He was … Filipino, I think. His brother’s name was John. Apparently they were born either before their parents immigrated, or too soon afterwards for the parents to know the significance of the name. This John Doe was a bit of a small time hood - my brother said that Anthony said that John said (!) he felt obligated by his name to lead a life of crime. For whatever that’s worth. ---
**Author:** ![UnwrittenNocturne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6de8d8/32.png) [@UnwrittenNocturne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UnwrittenNocturne)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/12 "2003-06-26T20:03:45Z")
I have known people with the surname Doe, although our ‘unknown guy’ is usually called Joe Bloggs ---
**Author:** ![Wartime\_Consigliori](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/9d8465/32.png) [@Wartime\_Consigliori](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wartime_Consigliori)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/13 "2003-06-26T20:36:02Z")
Not a John/Jane Doe, but a man with the same name as the previously-mentioned **Richard Roe** (see **don’t ask** ’s post above) lived in the community where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ac91a4/32.png) [@Knighted\_Vorpal\_Sword](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Knighted_Vorpal_Sword)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/14 "2003-06-26T20:57:12Z")
Never met the man, but he must have tried out the wallet I bought a few weeks ago, and left his information in it. Anybody have any idea where “Anytown” happens to be? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-really-know-a-john-or-jane-doe/184339/15 "2003-06-26T21:09:04Z")
The only one I know is our own Jane D’Oh! (snort) Still cracks me up!