John Smith
The name
John Smith is often regarded as the archetype of a very common personal name in the
United Kingdom, as well as in most other
English-speaking countries.
John has historically been one of the most common first names in these countries, and
Smith is the
most common surname in both the
United States and the
United Kingdom, though John has more recently fallen far down the list of most popular names for newborn boys in both countries. It is the archetypal
pseudonym,
placeholder name or
metasyntatic name in those countries, and is used similarly to
John Doe in the U.S. In the U.K.,
Joe Bloggs is used similarly.
There are a number of famous people called
John Smith:
United Kingdom
*
John Smith (English statesman), commissioner of the English Treasury, 1694â€"1695
*
John Smith (UK politician) (1938â€"1994), leader of the British Labour Party
*
John Smith (Welsh politician) (born 1951), Welsh politician and Labour Party Member of Parliament
*
John Smith (Manchester politician), Councillor in the
City of
ManchesterUnited States
*
John Smith (Ohio Senator) (1735â€"1824)
*
John Smith (Virginia), U.S. Representative, 1801â€"1814
*
John Smith (New Jersey), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of New Jersey
*
John Smith (New York), U.S. Senator, 1804â€"1813
*
John Smith (Vermont), U.S. Representative from Vermont, 1839â€"1841
*
John Smith (Detroit mayor) 1924â€"1928
*
John Smith (Illinois), Lieutenant Governor of Illinois
*
John Smith (Baseball), Baseball player, 1873-1875
*
John Ambler Smith (1847-1892), U.S. Representative from Ohio
*
John Armstrong Smith, U.S. Representative from Ohio
*
John Butler Smith (former Governor of New Hampshire) (1838â€"1914)
*
John Cotton Smith (former Governor of Connecticut) (1765â€"1845)
*
John Hyatt Smith (1824-1886), U.S. Representative from New York
*
John Joseph Smith (1904-1980), US Representative from Connecticut, later a federal judge
*
John Lyman Smith, a member of the Utah territorial legislature, and son
John Smith (1781-1854), one of the Mormon Presiding Patriarchs
*
John M. C. Smith (1853-1923), US Representative from Michigan
*
John Quincy Smith (1824-1901), U.S. Representative from Ohio, 1873â€"1875
*
John Speed Smith (1792-1854), U.S. Representative from Kentucky, 1822â€"1823
*
John T. Smith (Pennsylvania), U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania, 1843â€"1844
*
John Walter Smith (1845â€"1925), former Governor of Maryland
*
Jonathan Bayard Smith (1742-1812), Continental Congress Delegate from Pennsylvania
Other countries
*
John Smith (Gibraltar), Acting Governor in 1809
*
John Smith (Canadian politician), member of the Parliament of Canada, 1957-1962
*
John Smith (Ontario politician), member of the Parliament of Ontario, 1867â€"1871
*
John N. Smith, Canadian film director
*
John Valentine Smith (1824â€"1895), New Zealand politician
*
John Smith (actor) (died 1995), American actor
*
John Smith (filmmaker) (born 1952), London-based avant-garde filmmaker
*
John Smith (BBC) (born 1957), Director of Finance, Property and Business Affairs of the BBC, 2004-
*
John Smith (comics), British comics writer
*
John Smith (poet), British poet, co-writer with
Michael Garrick of jazzâ€"choral works
*
John Christopher Smith, 18th century composer
*
John Francis Smith (1868â€"1941), American painter and art teacher
*
John Orrin Smith (19th century), woodcutter
*
John Raphael Smith (1752-1812) English mezzotint engraver and painter
*
John Stafford Smith (1750â€"1836), composer of the tune for "The Star-Spangled Banner"
*
Jon Smith KENZ Radio personality (Salt Lake City, Utah)
*
John Gladstone Smith (1963- ), major London-based musician
*
Johnny Smith (1922- ), American Jazz guitarist
*
John Smith (mathematician) (18th century), mathematician at the University of Oxford, 1766â€"1797
*
John Francis Smith (nuclear physicist) 1970-, nuclear physicist at University of Paisley.
*
John Smith (dentist) (1825â€"1910), founder of the Edinburgh school of dentistry
*
John Cyril Smith (1922â€"2003), leading authority on English Criminal Law
*
John Lawrence Smith (1818-83) American M. D. and President of the American Association for the Advancement of Science
*
John Mayfors Smith (born 1946 - ), Editor of Community Newspapers in S.W. Durham, UK.
*
John Smith (football) (born 1949), former placekicker with the New England Patriots
*
John Smith (boxer), a boxer who lost an eight round decision to future world champion
Maurice Hope in
1973*
John Smith (wrestler) (born 1965), head coach of the
Oklahoma State wrestling program
*
John L. Smith, head coach of the
Michigan State football program
*
John T. Smith, an American professional wrestler.
*
John Smith (footballer) (1949-1988),
West Ham &
Tottenham Left half and Inside Left.
*
Rev. John Smith (Chaplain)
International Chaplains Association*John Smith or
John Smyth (1570â€"1612), Baptist minister
*
John Smith (missionary) (1790â€"1824), English missionary in the West Indies
*
John Smith (1781-1854), an uncle of Joseph Smith, Jr. and eventual Presiding Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
*
John Smith (1832-1911), a nephew of Joseph Smith, Jr. and another eventual Presiding Patriarch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
*
John Smith of Jamestown (1580â€"1631), English colonial soldier, associated with
Pocahontas*
John Smith, Blue (c.1615â€"1643), pioneer of Queen's County, New York
*
John Smith (naval officer), U.S. Navy, 1807â€"1811
*
John Smith (VC) (born c. 1814), recipient of the Victoria Cross
*
John Smith (Medal of Honor, b. 1826) (1826-?),
American Civil War sailor and
Medal of Honor recipient
*
John Smith (Medal of Honor, b. 1831) (1831-?),
American Civil War sailor and
Medal of Honor recipient
*
John Smith (police officer), Deputy Commissioner of Police of the Metropolis, 1991â€"1995
*
John F. Smith, Jr. (born 1939), former Chairman and CEO of General Motors
*
John Gordon Smith, one of the founders (1824) of Glenlivet, the first distillery in Scotland
*
John Smith (brewer) (died 1879), founder of the Tadcaster brewery in North Yorkshire
*
John Smith (architect) Designer of the
Leeds City Varieties*In the
second book of the series
Demonata by
Darren Shan, the
protagonist tries to get into a
punk concert, lying that he needed to find his elder brother inside. When the doormen asked him the name of his brother, he replied "John Smith".
* A character in a comic strip named
"John Smith" about a man who becomes obsessed with googling his own name and becoming the top result.
* John ("Johnny") Smith is the protagonist in
Stephen King's novel
The Dead Zone. (When the book was adapted for film by director
David Cronenberg, his comment about the name was "I'd
never name a character 'Johnny Smith.'")
* The Doctor in
Doctor Who has given his name as "Dr John Smith" (mainly in stories set in contemporary or near-future
Britain).
* Colonel John "Hannibal" Smith, portrayed by
George Peppard is the main character in the series
The A-Team.
* Faber John, which can be translated to John Smith, is the name of the
founder of
Time City, a fictional place in a Diana Wynne Jones novel.
* John and Jane Smith are the names given to the characters of Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie in the movie Mr. & Mrs. Smith.
* The DC Comics superhero Red Tornado' has sometimes gone by the alias John Smith.
* In
Batman: The Animated Series, John Smith was one of the aliases of
Bruce Wayne.
* John Smith is the name of the identity-torn protagonist (an "Indian" adopted and named by two white parents) in Sherman Alexie's 1995 novel, "Indian Killier."
* Captain John Smith, the English male protagonist in
Pocahontas.
*Teenage detective,
Veronica Mars, was called upon to find her classmate's father, conviniently named John Smith, in the third episode (Meet John Smith).
* There is a minor character in the anime series
My-HiME who is named John Smith.
*
John Smyth*
Edward John Smith (1850â€"1912), captain of the
RMS Titanic*
John Maynard Smith (1920â€"2004), a geneticist, whose complete surname is
Maynard Smith, not
Smith.
*
John Smit (born 1978), South African rugby player and current captain of the country's national team, the Springboks.
*
Juan Smith (born 1981), South African rugby player and current Springboks player.
