In the United States, the nameJohn Doe is used for a defendant or victim in a legal example or for a person whose identity is unknown or is intended to be anonymous. Male corpses 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. An anonymous plaintiff is known as Richard Roe, or Jane Roe in the case of a woman. 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 encyclopedia states that John O'Noakes or John Noakes is a fictitious name for a litigious person, used by lawyers in actions of ejectment.
In Friedman v. Ferguson, 850 F.2d 689 (4th Cir. 1988), the plaintiff pro se somewhat famously used the following creative variations on John Doe: Brett Boe, Carla Coe, Donna Doe, Frank Foe, Grace Goe, Harry Hoe, Marta Moe, Norma Noe, Paula Poe, Ralph Roe, Sammy Soe, Tommy Toe, Vince Voe, William Woe, Xerxes Xoe.
Minors accused of crimes, whenever mentioned publicly, are referred to by the initials of their full names (P. A. T., for instance). In court records, however, the full names are kept, though they are not disclosed.
N.N. as placeholder in formal contexts. Defendants are also often referred to by simply stating their age, for example "the 35-year old". Also used in Sweden's neighbouring countries Norway (in cases of averageness, Ola and Kari Nordmann are mainly used) and Denmark.
In a court of law, the expression "person (or persons) unknown" would be used for somebody whose identity was not known, rather than a fictitious name. A specific person involved in a court case whose identity is not to be made public is often referred to as Child B, Soldier A, Mr X, etc. The man on the Clapham omnibus is used in legal circles as a generic term for the behaviour and level of education of a "normal" person. The names, John Doe, Richard Roe, Hugh Hunt (among others) were formerly used for fictitious persons treated as participating in legal proceedings, such as ejectments.
John Doe, Jane Doe, Precious Doe, Baby Doe, John Smith (which has largely been replaced with John Doe) The female equivalent is Jane Doe or Mary Major. A second male is dubbed Richard Roe, and subsequent ones are referred to as John Stiles and Richard Miles.
Different fictitious names are used for unknown or unspecified persons in different countries in an informal context, rather than in a court of law or similar. These names are generally understood to be generic.
G. Raymond (male/female, mostly on credit cards and ID, used as could be either an anglophone or francophone name), John Jones, Jos Bleau (Quebec, French adaptation of Joe Blow)
Matti Meikäläinen (male/generic) and Maija Meikäläinen (female). Pihtiputaan mummo ("the Grandma/old lady from Pihtipudas") refers to the senior citizen not conversant in modern jargon or technical terminology, to whom things have to be explained clearly.
Israel Israeli ישראל ישראלי and also Ploni פלוני and Almoni אלמוני (as a party to Ploni) or the latter combined to Ploni Almoni (taken from Ruth 4:1, where it is used in place of the actual name of Boaz's relative, whose name is omitted as he failed to perform his levirate duty).
山"太郎 (Yamada Taro, a common male name), 山"花子 (Yamada Hanako, a common female name), 名無しの権兵衛 (Nanashi-no-Gombei, literally "Nameless So-and-So"), 何野某 (Nanno Nanigashi), 土左衛門 (Dozaemon, a drowned corpse)
Иванов Иван Иванович (Ivanov Ivan Ivanovich), Петров и Сидоров (Petrov and Sidorov), 'ася Пупкин (Vasya Pupkin), имярек (old slavonic abbreviation of имя рекомое, that is "name to be spoken". Still usable; not a name, but a reference to a person, usually in context of filling in a form)
Fulano de Tal, Pepe Pérez, Pedro Pérez, Juan Nadie, Fulano, Fulanito, Mengano, Menganito, Perico de los Palotes, Zutano, Zutanito, Sultano, Sultanito, Don Nadie
นาย ก. (Nai Gor, literally Mr. Gor), นาง ก. (Nang Gor, literally Mrs. Gor). Note that ก. (Gor) is the first letter in Thai alphabet. Other people in the story are named after subsequent letters: ข (Kor, with high pitch) ค (Kor, with low pitch), etc.
