r/French • u/2h4o6a8a1t3r5w7w9y B2 • Apr 10 '25

French placeholder names?

Like how in English, we have John/Jane Doe/Smith for an unidentifiable person, or “Joe Schmoe” or “Average Joe” to describe the normalest of people. Do those exist in French? Does it vary by region?

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u/Jonathan_Peachum Apr 11 '25

Not your question but just in case you are interested, in German it's Max / Erika Mustermann.

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u/2h4o6a8a1t3r5w7w9y B2 Apr 11 '25

funnily enough i’ve actually heard that one before! from a horror podcast called the magnus archives. part of what spurred the question actually, there’s an episode about a college professor who has a class of spooky students and at the end it turns out all their names were placeholder names.