In English these names are used as a substitute for the average guy. Or as a specimen when filling out a passport form.
What names/expressions are used in Spanish for this purpose?
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2 Answers
That's depends on the use and, as far as I know, there is no official denomination.
On graves: Desconocido/a + number or Indocumentado/a + number
Official forms/documents: They usually use a common name + common surnames something like María García García or José Pérez García or even Nombre: Nombre Apellidos: Apellido Apellido
Surnames for un-recognized children (in Spain and out of use): Expósito
While talking (informal): Fulano, Zutano, tío, as in El fulano/tío ese de ahí, El otro día Fulano y Zutano... (used if you want to talk about the events without saying who did or said what).
And, as said in comments, Mengano and the diminutive forms fulanito, menganito, zutanito.
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2And don't forger also about Mengano. Even the diminutive forms are quite common also: Fulanito, Menganito– AuronCommented Nov 30, 2011 at 15:54
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Yo me acordaba de tío, y quizás he oído de "Fulano" antes, pero no estoy seguro de eso...– AlenannoCommented Nov 30, 2011 at 16:53
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No es simplemente Juan sin nombre ? Al menos ese es el termino que se le da a los difuntos de los cuales se le desconoce el nombre o apellido real. Es un termino legalmente utilizado debido a que al difunto se le debe de llamar de una u otra manera mientras se indaga e investiga la identidad real. Commented May 16, 2012 at 13:42
A formal equivalent of John Doe (e.g. legal matters) in Spanish is N.N., derived from the Latin nomen nescio. Fulano, Perano, Zutano, Mengano, etc are used informally.
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Also an informal way of calling it the police sometimes (at least in Argentina) uses Natalia Natalia to refer to N.N. (no mater if male or female)– rodrigoqCommented Dec 4, 2012 at 21:40