So Where did John Doe come from, Anyway?

This question came up as I was setting up for work today. As it turns out, “the earliest usage of the names can be traced back to 13th or 14th century England,” according to John Lupton, of the Illinois Supreme Court1. John Doe is a fictitious name used in legal proceedings when the actual name of a party is unknown at the time a lawsuit is initiated. The designation may also be used to protect a plaintiff’s anonymity, though more commonly, it stands in for an unidentified defendant until the correct identity can be determined. - Cornell Law School The Wikipedia entry is a bit more morbid: John Doe (male), Jane Doe (female), or J. Doe (neutral/unknown) are multiple-use placeholder names that are used in the British, Canadian, and American legal systems, when the true name of a person is unknown or is being intentionally concealed. In the context of law enforcement in the United States, such names are often used to refer to a corpse whose identity is unknown or cannot be confirmed.…