Aliases of the Doctor

The Seventh Doctor's calling card. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)

Throughout his travels in time and space, the Doctor employed many different aliases. Some of these were fleeting others were used occasionally. Other aliases, for example John Smith was used by almost all of his incarnations. The Doctor told few individuals his real name, causing others to give him names such as The Doctor.

The Doctor's real name

Ubiquity of the title

"The Doctor" was not a name, but was, in fact, a title. His true name was not generally known, and as such the very title "the Doctor" was an alias. It has been implied his given name was ceremoniously withdrawn and stricken by his Cousins, as punishment for a disgrace he visited upon his House. (NA: Lungbarrow)

When asked about the Sixth Doctor's name, his companion Peri Brown once said that she had been told it, but she couldn't pronounce it. (BBCR: Slipback) Similarly he once told an interrogator (when being asked his name): "you wouldn't be able to pronounce the first syllable of it." (PDA: Salvation)

Even when he was twice put on trial by his own people, the Time Lords, he was only ever referred to during these events as "the Doctor" (DW: The War Games), even although The Valeyard, who prosecuted the second trial (and who, himself, was a future manifestation of the Doctor), acknowledged that it was an alias. (DW: Trial of a Time Lord) However, as the Doctor chose that "name" as part of Gallifreyan custom (DW: The Sound of Drums), its use in an official capacity is not unexpected. The Doctor was able to keep his true name hidden despite numerous "mind-probe" attempts, both voluntary (DW: The Girl in the Fireplace) and involuntary. (DW: The Shakespeare Code)

Individuals with knowledge of his name

The Master and the Doctor had known each other since their Prydon Academy days, and by one account even earlier (BFA: Master), but it is not known for certain whether he ever knew the Doctor's true name, although he was well aware that "the Doctor" was an alias. (DW: The Sound of Drums)

Another classmate of the Doctor's, Drax, may have known his real name, but instead referred to the Doctor by the nickname "Thete", short for Theta Sigma. (DW: The Armageddon Factor; The Happiness Patrol)

Madame de Pompadour recognized it as an alias when she was briefly connected to the Doctor's mind, stating "Doctor...Doctor who? It's more than just a secret, isn't it?". (DW: The Girl in the Fireplace)

Whether or not Madame de Pompadour actually learned his name this way remains undisclosed. She was able to see into his mind and into his past, although it was established that if mind-reading was done in this way, memories could be closed off at will. That said, the Doctor was not aware that she was reading his mind at the time.

River Song, who when the Tenth Doctor first encountered her, claimed to have known him at some point in his future, is one of the only individuals confirmed to know his true name. In order to win the Doctor's trust, and prove her "credentials", she was seen to whisper the name into his ear. The Doctor seemed particularly shocked at this, later saying to her "there is only one reason I would ever tell anyone my name, only one time I could." (DW: Forest of the Dead)

She whispered the Doctor's name for a duration of roughly two seconds, suggesting the name may only be a few syllables long (assuming she uttered a complete name). As Steven Moffat made a point of mentioning that he always felt the Doctor's name was never revealed only because it must have been some "terrible secret".

At least one other person, the Eighth Doctor's companion Samantha Jones, was also told his real name. She found it quite alien and virtually unpronounceable. (EDA: Unnatural History, Vanderdeken's Children)

When the Doctor spoke his real name aloud in the novel Vanderdeken's Children it was not written in the prose, but represented by "—" instead.

Near the end of his tenth incarnation, members of an unidentified pan-dimensional race came to know the Doctor's real name. At this point he was of the opinion there was no one left in the universe who knew it. (BBCR: The Last Voyage)

To date there have been at least two individuals who received intimate knowledge of the Doctor's life and history -- Jackson Lake (DW: The Next Doctor) and Craig Owens (DW: The Lodger). There is no indication that this information, received via a data recording device for the former and the latter via the Doctor himself, included knowledge of his real name.

True name

The Carrionite Lilith, unable to discover the Tenth Doctor's true name even with the "witchcraft" used by her kind, remarked, "There is no name. Why would a man hide his title in such despair?" (DW: The Shakespeare Code) The psychically-gifted Evelina, who attempted to foretell the Doctor's future, remarked that his "true name" was in fact "hidden". (DW: The Fires of Pompeii)

Significance

Far from being a random title, or one intended to inflate his credentials, the Doctor did, indeed, possess at least one doctorate. (DW: The Moonbase, The Armageddon Factor, The Mysterious Planet) On other occasions he described himself as a "Doctor of many things" (DW: Four to Doomsday), or, indeed, "everything". (DW: Utopia) Exactly what his doctorate(s) were for remain a mystery, but on several occasions the Doctor stated he was not a medical doctor, though that didn't stop his second, third, tenth and eleventh incarnations from sporting a stethoscope on occasion. However the Doctor noted that he had studied medicine in the 19th century. (DW: The Moonbase)

List of aliases

During his life, numerous names were either used by, or bestowed upon the Time Lord most widely known as the Doctor.

Common aliases

The Doctor

As noted above, The Doctor itself was an alias, despite it being the name by which the Time Lord was most widely known. It has been claimed that, as per Gallifreyan custom, he chose this alias himself (DW: The Sound of Drums), though it may have just been a misunderstanding caused by an earlier alias (see Names given by others.) On at least one occasion, a Human knew this name without the Doctor even saying it out loud. (NA: Cat's Cradle: Warhead) His other aliases often included the title "Doctor". He implied to Peri that his given name also began with such a title. (DW: The Mysterious Planet) Drax, a fellow Time Lord, indicated that the Doctor did indeed possess a doctorate (although in what is not indicated). (DW: The Armageddon Factor) According to one account, during his first incarnation, the Doctor adopted this name for the benefit of Human colonists on the planet Iwa at the same time that his grand-daughter adopted the name "Susan". (TN: Frayed)

During his eleventh incarnation, the Doctor claimed that he didn't actually know why he and other people called him 'The Doctor'. (DW: The Lodger) This may have been in an attempt to prevent Craig from asking why they call him the Doctor. This would have been hard to explain to him.

John Smith

John Smith was the alias the Doctor often used on Earth and around Humans when a "standard" name was often required or demanded. It was usually preceded by the title "Doctor", though not always - for example, when he worked undercover as a teacher at a school and as a patient in a hospital. (DW: School Reunion, Smith and Jones) The earliest known use of the name occurred during his first incarnation, when he used a library card with the name Dr. J. Smith while still living at 76 Totter's Lane (DW: The Vampires of Venice), as well as for identification when renting the junkyard (ST: The Rag and Bone Man's Story) In his second incarnation, the name was independently used by his companion Jamie McCrimmon (who would not have known of the Doctor's earlier use of the name). (DW: The Wheel in Space) Later, he adopted it on a semi-regular basis during his third incarnation while exiled on Earth when he served as unpaid scientific advisor to UNIT. (DW: Spearhead from Space, et al)

As "John Smith" is considered a very generic name in some Earth cultures, the Doctor's use of the alias was occasionally treated with skepticism by others. (DW: Midnight)

The Doctor has twice temporarily changed himself into a human who used the name John Smith. This occurred in his seventh incarnation (NA: Human Nature) and in his tenth (DW: Human Nature/The Family of Blood).

Known uses of John Smith

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The Doctor's library card, issued to "Dr. J. Smith." (DW: The Vampires of Venice)

On the First Doctor's library card while still living at 76 Totter's Lane (DW: The Vampires of Venice)
As identification when renting the junkyard from its owner, Hawkins (ST: The Rag and Bone Man's Story)
Used when Rebecca Nurse asked his name, realising that a simple 'Doctor' would not do (PDA: The Witch Hunters)
Used to check in at Ingersoll's tavern in Salem (PDA: The Witch Hunters).
Given to him by Jamie and used aboard Space Station W3. (DW: The Wheel in Space)
Used when questioned by a German soldier in the second episode of DW: The War Games, who replies "Good. Now we are getting somewhere".
During his exile on Earth with UNIT, during which time he served as its scientific advisor (DW: Spearhead from Space, The Time Warrior)
Used on the planet Kastopheria when asked by Admiminstrator Charteris who reponds to the answer with "A large family, the Smiths" (PDA: Catastrophea)
"JSMITH" was the Sixth Doctor's username online. (PDA: Blue Box)
The German translation of this name, "Johann Schmidt," was used by the Seventh Doctor while impersonating a Nazi Reichsinspektor. (NA: Timewyrm: Exodus) The Eighth Doctor used it again while posing as a German spy. (BFA: Storm Warning)
The French translation, "Jean Forgeron," was used by the Fourth Doctor when met by French soldiers in the labyrinth underneath Paris. (IDW: The Forgotten)
Given to him serendipitously by Chang Lee on his hospital admittance forms after he was shot near the end of his seventh incarnation. (DW: Doctor Who)
Appeared as "Dr. John Smith" on a piece of psychic paper during a visit to 1941 (although he never actually used the alias on this occasion). (DW: The Empty Child)
Used while working undercover as a science teacher at Deffry Vale High School. (DW: School Reunion)
Used while posing as a patient at Royal Hope Hospital. (DW: Smith and Jones)
Used on both the Confederate and Union sides of the American Civil War as a guise under which the fifth Doctor could render medical assistance, while having the freedom to search for his lost companions, Peri and Erimem. He received some local publicity under the name, after delivering the baby of the mayor of Gable, West Virginia, and was personally known to Abraham Lincoln by this name after he saved the president's life during an assassination attempt in Richmond, Virginia. (TN: Blood and Hope)
Used while impersonating a health and safety officer during an investigation of Adipose Industries (DW: Partners in Crime)
The Tenth Doctor attempted to use the alias aboard the Crusader 50 bus on the planet Midnight, but it was recognized as a false name and rejected by the panicking humans aboard. (DW: Midnight)
Used when "reintroducing" himself to Donna Noble after he was forced to erase her memories of him. (DW: Journey's End)
Used when encountering Jackson Lake, a man who, due to Infostamp exposure, believed himself to be an incarnation of the Doctor. (DW: The Next Doctor)

Theta Sigma

Theta Sigma (ΘΣ), informally Thete, was a nickname used by the Doctor during his years at the Time Lord Academy on the planet Gallifrey. (DW: The Armageddon Factor, The Happiness Patrol, DWM: Flashback) The name might also have been a codename used by some aspects of Time Lord government to refer to the Doctor. (The Adventures of K9 series)

River Song used the written form "ΘΣ" on a message to the eleventh Doctor on Planet One, though the Doctor specifically called these and other apparently Greek numbers on the cliff face "co-ordinates". (DW: The Pandorica Opens)

"ΘΣ" was also a commonly-used abbreviation for "God" in Greek manuscripts of the New Testament. The capital letters Theta and Sigma together resemble the word "ΟΣ", (who), and some scribal variations in New Testament texts will have "ΟΣ" in a few passages while others have "ΘΣ" in the same passages.[1]

Minor aliases

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First Doctor

Doctor Foreman: While spending time in 1963 Earth to repair the TARDIS. (DW: An Unearthly Child).
Maximus Pettulian: While visiting the Roman Empire prior to the burning of Rome, the Doctor briefly impersonated a murdered lyre player named Maximus Pettulian in the court of Nero until his true identity was uncovered. (DW: The Romans)
Zeus: When the Greek warrior Achilles mistook the Doctor for Zeus posing as an old man, he went along with it, until the already unconvinced Agamemnon spoiled the Doctor's ruse. (DW: The Myth Makers)
Doctor Caligari: Name used by the First Doctor when he arrived in Tombstone, Arizona, impersonating a magician. (DW: The Gunfighters)

Second Doctor

Doctor von Wer: The German translation of 'Doctor [of] Who,' this name was briefly adopted by the Second Doctor during his visit to Scotland in 1745. He also signed a note Doctor W around this time. (DW: The Highlanders)

Third Doctor

to be added

Fourth Doctor

?: The Doctor signed a document with a question mark prior to the Sontaran invasion of Gallifrey. (DW: The Invasion of Time) Later, the Seventh Doctor signed a document the same way during a visit to London in 1963. (DW: Remembrance of the Daleks)

Fifth Doctor

The Supremo: For a year, the Doctor used the alias of "the Supremo" as leader of the alliance against the army of the evil renegade Time Lord, Morbius. Originally, his title was that of "Supreme Controller", but the Ogrons, which he chose as his personal praetorian guard, were unable to correctly pronounce it as such and shortened it to the simpler "Supremo". (PDA: Warmonger)

Sixth Doctor

Doktor of TARDIS: Pseudonym used by the Sixth Doctor to move discreetly around an alternate version of the city of Rome. (MA: State of Change)
Old One: A name given to him by Balazar in the underground complex on Ravolox. (DW: The Mysterious Planet)
The Sandman: (BFA: The Sandman)

Seventh Doctor

Muldwych: This was, the Seventh Doctor believed, an alias used by a future and/or alternative Doctor residing in a magic-using parallel Earth. (DW: Battlefield) This was, apparently, a future incarnation of the Doctor who, at times, also used the name Muldwych. (NA: Happy Endings)

Eighth Doctor

Gracie Witherspoon: As a ruse to defeat the Threshold, the Doctor used a personal chameleon circuit to take the appearance of a female Threshold agent while Shayde masqueraded as the Doctor. (DWM: Wormwood)
Dr. Friedlander: While visiting Banquo Manor. (EDA: The Banquo Legacy)
The Bringer of Darkness, the Oncoming Storm, the Evergreen Man were all names he gave Slake. In addition, he gave his full, former Time Lord title as President of the High Council of the Time Lords, Keeper of the Legacy of Rassilon, Defender of the Laws of Time and Protector of Gallifrey. (EDA: Vampire Science) The Blinovitch Limitation Effect was later described as having 'a pressure, like an oncoming storm.' before it occurs. (EDA: Unnatural History)
Perdix, while in Rhadamanthys' court. (TN: Fallen Gods)

Ninth Doctor

The Oncoming Storm; A name the Doctor says that the "legends of Skaro" calls him whilst taunting the Daleks. (DW: The Parting of the Ways) The name is later used by Rose Tyler when the Tenth Doctor appears (apparently) drunk from a pre-revolutionary French party as follows: "Oh, look what the cat dragged in! The Oncoming Storm," to which the Doctor replies, "Oh, listen to you. You sound just like your mother." (DW: The Girl in the Fireplace) The Eleventh Doctor is also called by that name by the Dream Lord (DW: Amy's Choice) and refers to himself as such. (DW: The Lodger)

Tenth Doctor

Doctor James McCrimmon: The Tenth Doctor briefly took the name Dr. James McCrimmon while visiting Scotland in 1879; this was the name of one of his old companions. Later, however, he dropped the alias and was knighted by Queen Victoria as "Sir Doctor of TARDIS". (DW: Tooth and Claw)
Sir Doctor of TARDIS: Aside from being knighted under this name, the Doctor also attempted to use the title when he encountered William Shakespeare, via the psychic paper, but Shakespeare's mind could not be swayed by the paper.(DW: The Shakespeare Code)
Doctor Vile: The Doctor briefly masqueraded as the space pirate Doctor Vile in order to stop a war. (DW: The Infinite Quest)
The Last of the Time Lords: A name he gave himself ever since the events of the Last Great Time War which wiped out all of the other Time Lords excluding The Master. The Dream Lord also referred to the Eleventh Doctor as such. (DW: Amy's Choice)
Doctor McCoy: After a discussion with Donna Noble, in which she compared the sonic screwdriver with Star Trek's tricorder, the Doctor adopted the alias Dr. McCoy (after Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy) when dealing with a group of soldiers (Donna called herself Captain Kirk, after James T. Kirk). The ruse fell apart when Donna was unable to maintain the pretense of being a captain. (NSA: Pest Control)
Spartacus: When visiting Pompeii in 79 A.D, the Doctor and Donna both used the alias 'Spartacus' (they had both said "I am Spartacus" in the manner of the 1960's Kirk Douglas epic Spartacus). (DW: The Fires of Pompeii)
Doctor Noble: When the Doctor and Donna Noble travelled to the Ood Sphere, he used the Alias Dr. Noble this led to people confusing the Doctor and Donna for a married couple. (DW: Planet of the Ood)
Maintenance Man of the Universe: A name the Doctor gave himself after fixing the lighting in Bowie Base 1 and Captain Adelaide Brook comparing him to a janitor. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
The Time Lord Victorious: Deciding to alter history by rescuing Adelaide Brooke and two of her comrades from Bowie Base One on Mars in 2059, the Doctor became arrogant and egotistical, declaring that the laws of the Time Lords to prevent altering history no longer applied because he was the last, so he had total authority over time itself. (DW: The Waters of Mars)
Actors: When visiting Hollywood in the early 20th century, the Doctor adopted a number of Hollywood-related names whilst attending a party. Within the space of a few minutes, he called himself "Tom Cruise," "Michael Caine," "Pee-Wee Herman," and "Tom Hanks." (IDW: Silver Scream)

Eleventh Doctor

Gandalf: The Eleventh Doctor also jokingly refers to himself as "the outer space Gandalf" in the mini episode bridging the gap between Flesh and Stone and The Vampires of Venice.
Dream Lord: The name given to the Doctor's dark side of his personality. (DW: Amy's Choice)
Captain Troy Handsome of International Rescue: An alias the Doctor used when confronting 79B Aickman Road. (DW: The Lodger)
Commander Bond of Naval Intelligence: An alias used by the Doctor when he encountered Gein. (DWA: Sub-species)

Names given by others