Also, lots of Americans and very few women?
Well, famous people + not in entertainment + women = kind of a limited selection, sadly, regardless of how many letters they use in their name…
I doubt it. They probably think that what they do is as serious, or more serious, than science anyway.
Philosopher G.E.M. Anscombe was a woman. Informally she went by “Elizabeth”, but signed all her publications with G.E.M.
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.
P. Tolemy. The P is silent, btw…
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
Always wondered why Richard M. Nixon. Was there a Richard P. Nixon he didn’t want to confuse us with?
[J. E. B. “Jeb” Stuart](J.E.B. Stuart) in the US Civil War?
In politics:
B. B. Hickenlooper, Iowa governor and Senator
W. Averell Harriman, NYS Governor
C. Douglas Dillon, Secretary of the Treasury under JFK
And their fellow general, A P Hill.
E.H. Harriman, of the Union Pacific Railroad.
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”.
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 for some 20 years was one W.S. Rupe. In all that time, they never printed his first name.
Did I miss the post for J. K. Rowling?
He was also an actor of sorts, therefore an arty type.
Arty type, doesn’t count.
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.)
Yellow River Valley was written by I.P. Freely, IIRC.
L. Ron Hubbard
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