Wednesday, June 20, 2007

How to Be Anonymous in 75 Countries



If you're ever on the run from assassins, you'll need to know how to protect your identity. Anyone hiding out in the US may want to give the name "Jane Doe" to any hotel clerks, census workers, or overly friendly strangers she happens to come across. But should you decide to flee across the Atlantic, Pacific, or Rio Grande, you might want to consider a new alias. The following is a short list of "anonymous" names around the world.

Erika Mustermann (Germany)
Juanita dela Cruz (Philippines)
Folana (Lebanon)
Shim Cheong (Korea)
Yamada Hanako (Japan)
Jóna Jónsdóttir (Iceland)
Tade Tadopulou (Greece)
Trần Thị B (Vietnam)
Madamoiselle Unetelle (France)

Not thrilled by the prospect of hiding out in Iceland? (I personally think it's a fabulous idea.) Check here to find the generic name for the country of your choice. (And a somewhat interesting history of the name John Doe.)

7 comments:

Jessica said...

I'll be sure to keep this in mind... Maybe I could be B. Ook, Wei R. Do, Hid Inga Way, Unima Gina Tive, Oct Opusba R.F., or maybe even Toi L. Etpa-Per.

On second thought, I like Shim Cheong, and Madmoiselle Unetelle seems passable :) Of course the other names are awesome :p

Jessica said...

Oh, I forgot to say: the Wikipedia explanation of John Doe WAS pretty interesting. Mmm.. I'm not going to reveal my REAL name... but I would be a J. Doe. Ok, Ok, my first name actually starts with a J. But still. I like to think of myself as unknown... to most people, at least :)

Ananka said...

You could also try "Kirsten Miller" if you want to remain anonymous. There are about a million of them roaming the world.

But for now I'll think of you as J. Doe.

Jessica said...

Kirsten Miller.. Kirsten Miller.. rings a bell :p
Maybe I can be J.K.M.Doe. JKMD? J.K. McDoe? Like J.K. Rowling. J.K. McDoe. Hmm... I'm going to have to think about that. Maybe the original J. Doe is better... *sighs* I dunno ;p

Kiki said...

Erika Mustermann is not very inconspicuous, I would rather take something with Mueller or Meier/Maier/Mayer.
(by the way, I'm NOT Kiki Strike, Kiki is my real Nickname... and I'm German)

ananka said...

Sure you're not Kiki Strike?

ss chick said...

living in wy. hiding out in iceland would be like wintertime here