# Figures who use initials as part of their names **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 20, 2012, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648 "2012-11-20T21:53:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [November 20, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/41 "2012-11-20T23:58:42Z")
Also, lots of Americans and very few women? ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/42 "2012-11-21T00:13:37Z")
Well, famous people + not in entertainment + women = kind of a limited selection, sadly, regardless of how many letters they use in their name… ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/43 "2012-11-21T00:18:10Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Ah, interesting. I wonder if that convention has led to those in the arts using initials as a way of adding a gloss of seriousness to themselves? I doubt it. They probably think that what they do is as serious, or more serious, than science anyway. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/44 "2012-11-21T00:24:23Z")
> [@Peanuthead](#): > > [C. Wright Mills](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C._Wright_Mills) > > [E. Howard Hunt](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Howard_Hunt) > > [W. Clement Stone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W._Clement_Stone) > > [F. Lee Bailey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F._Lee_Bailey) > > Hmmmmm. Doesn’t look like there are any women in this thread. Wonder why? Philosopher [G.E.M. Anscombe](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G.E.M._Anscombe) was a woman. Informally she went by “Elizabeth”, but signed all her publications with G.E.M. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/45 "2012-11-21T00:27:58Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Right. So plenty of examples from outside of the arts. Obviously my initial list was skewed by my woeful lack of general knowledge. > > I wonder then if there is a genesis for this trend? What’s the **earliest** example anyone can come up with of a figure who commonly used initials as their first/middle names? Frankly, I should have thought that almost everyone with a middle name usually uses just the initial for that (although sometimes they may just drop it altogether). It is a bit more unusual to do it with your first name. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/46 "2012-11-21T00:33:14Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > Right. So plenty of examples from outside of the arts. Obviously my initial list was skewed by my woeful lack of general knowledge. > > I wonder then if there is a genesis for this trend? What’s the **earliest** example anyone can come up with of a figure who commonly used initials as their first/middle names? P. Tolemy. The P is silent, btw… ---
**Author:** ![RobDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f07891/32.png) [@RobDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RobDog)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/47 "2012-11-21T00:33:44Z")
Still. This is all very handy if I ever need a cliche or three for the novel I’m not writing. Jack Bauer - one man SWAT team and constant danger to the health of his friends, family and colleagues Jack D Bauer - avuncular hardware store proprietor J D Bauer’s - chain of East Coast children’s book stores ---
**Author:** ![pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@pseudotriton\_ruber\_ruber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pseudotriton_ruber_ruber)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/48 "2012-11-21T01:04:32Z")
Always wondered why Richard M. Nixon. Was there a Richard P. Nixon he didn’t want to confuse us with? ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/49 "2012-11-21T01:10:47Z")
[J. E. B. “Jeb” Stuart](J.E.B. Stuart) in the US Civil War? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/50 "2012-11-21T01:21:15Z")
In politics: B. B. Hickenlooper, Iowa governor and Senator W. Averell Harriman, NYS Governor C. Douglas Dillon, Secretary of the Treasury under JFK ---
**Author:** ![SCAdian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scadian/32/3292_2.png) [@SCAdian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCAdian)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/51 "2012-11-21T01:24:13Z")
> [@RobDog](#): > > For some reason, that made Robert E Lee spring to mind. > [@Kamino\_Neko](#): > > Which brings to mind [JEB Stewart](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J.E.B._Stuart). (Pronounced ‘Jeb’, but it IS his initials.) And their fellow general, A P Hill. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/52 "2012-11-21T01:27:58Z")
E.H. Harriman, of the Union Pacific Railroad. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/53 "2012-11-21T01:29:52Z")
I don’t know if athletes count as arty types, so I’ll nominate O.J. Simpson. He’s certainly been a notorious figure apart from his football career and his “acting”. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/54 "2012-11-21T01:41:31Z")
Back before WW2, in newspapers and such, it was acceptable for a man to be referred to all the time by his first and middle initials (or their husband’s with Mrs., if a married woman). This was especially true of the class of businessmen, professors, clergy and such. They could go though a whole day without being addressed by first name, except by people who were _both_ intimates and contemporaries. The publisher of [my local paper](http://amestrib.com/) for some 20 years was one W.S. Rupe. In all that time, they _never_ printed his first name. ---
**Author:** ![picunurse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7bcc69/32.png) [@picunurse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/picunurse)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/55 "2012-11-21T01:46:38Z")
Did I miss the post for J. K. Rowling? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/56 "2012-11-21T02:58:02Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > I don’t know if athletes count as arty types, so I’ll nominate O.J. Simpson. He’s certainly been a notorious figure apart from his football career and his “acting”. He was also an actor of sorts, therefore an arty type. > [@picunurse](#): > > Did I miss the post for J. K. Rowling? Arty type, doesn’t count. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/57 "2012-11-21T03:04:10Z")
[R.T. Rybak](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R.T._Rybak) is mayor of Minneapolis. (He was born Raymond Thomas Rybak Jr., so R.T. may be a family nickname and thus a special case.) ---
**Author:** ![ducati](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/cc9497/32.png) [@ducati](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ducati)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/58 "2012-11-21T03:34:10Z")
Yellow River Valley was written by I.P. Freely, IIRC. ---
**Author:** ![Ponch8](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponch8/32/9883_2.png) [@Ponch8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponch8)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/59 "2012-11-21T03:51:55Z")
L. Ron Hubbard ---
**Author:** ![April\_R](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3da27b/32.png) [@April\_R](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/April_R)\ **Post date:** [November 21, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648/60 "2012-11-21T03:56:12Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > Well, there’s E.O. Wilson, the biologist and B.F. Skinner, the behaviorist. Yay Skinner! Threads like this always remond me of Gilbert Godfrey’s skit Land of the Three Named People It’s hilarious [http://www.comedycentral.com/video-clips/j4mvqb/comedy-central-presents-the-land-of-the-three-name-people](http://www.comedycentral.com/video-clips/j4mvqb/comedy-central-presents-the-land-of-the-three-name-people) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/figures-who-use-initials-as-part-of-their-names/641648.md?page=4)