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 Britain and the United States, 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 Britain, Joe Bloggs is used similarly.

There are a number of famous people called John Smith:

Politicians

United Kingdom

• John Smith (English statesman), commissioner of the English Treasury, 1694–1695
• John Smith (UK politician) (1938–1994), 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 Manchester

United States

• John Smith (Ohio Senator) (1735–1824)
• John Smith (Virginia), U.S. Representative, 1801–1814
• John Smith (New Jersey), Bishop of Roman Catholic Diocese of New Jersey
• John Smith (New York), U.S. Senator, 1804–1813
• John Smith (Vermont), U.S. Representative from Vermont, 1839–1841
• John Smith (Detroit mayor) 1924–1928
• 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) (1838–1914)
• John Cotton Smith (former Governor of Connecticut) (1765–1845)
• John Hyatt Smith (1824-1886), U.S. Representative from New York
• John Joseph Smith (1904-1980), US Representative from Connecticut
• 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, 1873–1875
• John Speed Smith (1792-1854), U.S. Representative from Kentucky, 1822–1823
• John T. Smith (Pennsylvania), U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania, 1843–1844
• John Walter Smith (1845–1925), 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 Ontario, 1867–1871
• John Valentine Smith (1824–1895), New Zealand politician

Cultural figures

• 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 jazz–choral works
• John Christopher Smith, 18th century composer
• John Francis Smith (1868–1941), American painter and art teacher
• John Orrin Smith (19th century), woodcutter
• John Raphael Smith (1752-1812) English mezzotint engraver and painter
• John Stafford Smith (1750–1836), 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

Academic figures

• John Smith (mathematician) (18th century), mathematician at the University of Oxford, 1766–1797
• John Francis Smith (nuclear physicist) 1970-, nuclear physicist at University of Paisley.
• John Smith (dentist) (1825–1910), founder of the Edinburgh school of dentistry
• John Cyril Smith (1922–2003), 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

Journalists

• John Mayfors Smith (born 1946 - ), Editor of Community Newspapers in S.W. Durham, UK.

Sports figures

• 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.

Religious figures

• Rev. John Smith (Chaplain) International Chaplains Association
• John Smith or John Smyth (1570–1612), Baptist minister
• John Smith (missionary) (1790–1824), 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

Miscellaneous figures

• John Smith of Jamestown (1580–1631), English colonial soldier, associated with Pocahontas
• John Smith, Blue (c.1615–1643), pioneer of Queen's County, New York
• John Smith (naval officer), U.S. Navy, 1807–1811
• 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, 1991–1995
• 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

Fictional characters

• 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 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.

See also

• John Smyth
• Edward John Smith (1850–1912), captain of the RMS Titanic
• John Maynard Smith (1920–2004), 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.

Lists of ambiguous human names

ジョン・スミス