The name John Q. Public is used on a sample Social Security card

John Q. Public is a generic name in the United States to denote a hypothetical member of society deemed a "common man." He is presumed to have no strong political or social biases relevant to whatever topic is at hand, and to represent the randomly selected "man on the street." The equivalent terms are John Q. Citizen. Female equivalents include Jane Q. Public, or Jane Q. Citizen, Jane Winecooler, and Ann Yone (from "anyone"). Roughly equivalent are Joe Six-pack and Joe Blow, implying a lower-class citizen.

The equivalent in the United Kingdom is Joe Public.

In Internet culture, the generic name of choice is J. Random ______, where the surname is used to refer to a job or role, as in J. Random Hacker. This formation is thought to be taken from the name of J. Presper Eckert, builder of one of the first digital computers.

See also

• John Doe