# Why John? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 12, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590 "2004-08-12T20:52:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/1 "2004-08-12T20:52:24Z")
What did John do to deserve this. Why are men’s rooms and toilets called the John? Does it have anything to do with a Johnson? Why is John a prostitutes customer? Was John a person? Bonus question. Why is it called a ‘head’ in the Navy? ---
**Author:** ![Lobsang](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobsang/32/4067_2.png) [@Lobsang](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobsang)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 8:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/2 "2004-08-12T20:57:07Z")
And Why Peter? Why is my name a penis? ---
**Author:** ![Mister\_Rik](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mister_rik/32/491_2.png) [@Mister\_Rik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mister_Rik)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/3 "2004-08-12T21:05:01Z")
My penis is named Frank. ---
**Author:** ![jk1245](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@jk1245](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jk1245)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/4 "2004-08-12T21:20:26Z")
My own defense to this (I’m a John IRL) in school was always: Them: “Man, I’ve gotta go to the JOHN” Me: “Oh really? Gotta go take a [person’s name], huh?” This was the pinnacle of 5th grade repartee. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/5 "2004-08-12T21:27:37Z")
> [@ltfire](#): > > What did John do to deserve this. Because god hates him. > [@](#): > > Bonus question. Why is it called a ‘head’ in the Navy? [See here.](http://www.chinfo.navy.mil/navpalib/traditions/html/navyterm.html#head) ---
**Author:** ![Silocke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Silocke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silocke)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/6 "2004-08-12T22:55:49Z")
> [@](#): > > My penis is named Frank. If I may be a little Frank, … ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2004, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/7 "2004-08-12T23:56:48Z")
For starters, [The Master Speaks](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_379.html) From [A previous thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=26911&highlight=john+toilet) ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/8 "2004-08-13T00:04:28Z")
Why do so many mothers, it seems, want their daughters to be called “Sam”? **samclem** already answered the OP. Sorta. Peace, mangeorge ---
**Author:** ![ltfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ea924/32.png) [@ltfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ltfire)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/9 "2004-08-13T00:51:00Z")
So now, if JOHN puts his JOHNSON away, and leaves the JOHN, meets a prostitute, and becomes a JOHN…which he can’t, really, because he already is, so why does one become a JOHN by picking up the prostitute? (I did ask that at the start of this thread). ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/10 "2004-08-13T01:36:20Z")
> [@ltfire](#): > > So now, if JOHN puts his JOHNSON away, and leaves the JOHN, meets a prostitute, and becomes a JOHN…which he can’t, really, because he already is, so why does one become a JOHN by picking up the prostitute? (I did ask that at the start of this thread). The term “John,” used to mean the customer of a prostitute, only appears in print in English around the 1920’s. That doesn’t mean that it wasn’t used earlier. It almost certainly came from the term “John” to mean a person who frequented burlesque shows and the like, and was a “sugar daddy” type of person to the showgirls. This use first appears in print around the first decade of the twentieth century. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/11 "2004-08-13T01:49:25Z")
> [@Silocke](#): > > If I may be a little Frank, … Morning frank with eggs? Evening frank with ketchup and mustard? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/12 "2004-08-13T02:09:13Z")
I’m going to bravely answer part of the OP without looking at **samclem** ’s links. I recall that the name “John” is, and was, used th refer to a whore’s customers because it used to be a very popular name, and was often given as an alias along with another popular name, “Smith”. There ya go! Heap on the scorn if this answer was already suggested. I gotta go eat. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/13 "2004-08-13T02:58:03Z")
> [@mangeorge](#): > > I’m going to bravely answer part of the OP without looking at **samclem** ’s links. > I recall that the name “John” is, and was, used th refer to a whore’s customers because it used to be a very popular name, and was often given as an alias along with another popular name, “Smith”. > There ya go! > Heap on the scorn if this answer was already suggested. I gotta go eat. > 😛 I’ll “heap on the scorn” because it’s bullshit. If the poster wanted vague memories and opinions, I would have moved this to IMHO or GD. Let’s try to give GQ-worthy answers. Please? :mad: **mangeorge**. This diatribe wasn’t just directed to you. It’s an ongoing frustrating phenomena. Don’t take it personally. And, YES, I realize that half the post to questions posed in GQ are nothing more than witty repartee and jokes. That’s fine. We can use the humor. But we can also use answers that aren’t guesses or speculation. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/14 "2004-08-13T03:01:33Z")
Is there really a man named Harry Peter? ---
**Author:** ![mangeorge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d78d45/32.png) [@mangeorge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mangeorge)\ **Post date:** [August 13, 2004, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-john/259590/15 "2004-08-13T16:45:53Z")
**samclem** , my offer to be a scornsponge was based on the possibility that my answer was a repeat of something already put forth, not on the possible silliness of my answer. I do believe (right or wrong) that prostitutes, back in the day, began using the term “John” to refer to their customers because so many said that that was their name when asked. It may have been in an interview with Margo St. James, founder of COYOTE, an advocacy group for prostitutes, that I first heard this opinion. The idea certainly seems plausible to me. I tried to find a cite for you all, but such a thing is pretty hard to document. Forgine an old guy his absent-mindedness. My answer _was_, at it’s core, in earnest.