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John Smith is a name often regarded as the archetype of a common personal name in most English-speaking countries, a generic name sometimes representing "everyman" or "the average person." John Smith of Jamestown (1580-1631), who led the Jamestown colony in Virginia and was an English explorer and adventurer, is cited universally in American history textbooks and is the most well-known John Smith in the United States. In the United Kingdom and United States, John has historically been one of the most common male first names, and Smith is the most common surname in each. It is a recurrent pseudonym, placeholder name, or metasyntactic name in those countries (especially in legal contexts). In this fashion it is similar to the name "Joe Bloggs" in the United Kingdom and "John Doe" in the United States. John Smith is also used in hospitals when a male's name is not known. (For females, Jane Doe) The surname "Miller" or "Jones" is often used in the same way "Smith" is used, although not as frequently. This page lists notable people named John Smith, including fictional characters.
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