# Initials made into names **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2011, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645 "2011-08-05T22:01:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2011, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/21 "2011-08-06T03:39:49Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > I think **cochrane** read the thread title and gave examples of people with the initials J.E.B. being called Jeb, which fits well with the thread title “Initials made into names” (kind of like the oldest brother character on **Arrested Development** ; everyone called him Gob, pronounced like Job in the Bible, because his name was “George Oscar Bluth”) and didn’t really understand from the OP precisely what **Silver Tyger Girl** had in mind. Dudes, it’s cool. Besides, it reminded me of the Haunted Tank, which is one of the coolest comics ever. (WWII tank haunted by Gen. Jeb Stuart). I’m not a thread nitpicker. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/22 "2011-08-07T20:19:45Z")
> [@SciFiSam](#): > > If your dialect pronounces mid-sentence ts like Ds: > > Katie - K-D. What about Katie as K. T. ? ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/23 "2011-08-07T21:40:37Z")
I’ve seen at least one guy nicknamed Doc because his initials were MD. May want to pursue that tact if you can’t get any good two letter names. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2011, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/24 "2011-08-07T22:16:28Z")
I have two African friends (female) named **Ije** and **Elodie**. That’s right…E.J. and L.O.D.! I almost thought it might be an African thing, but they’re from different countries. I think it’s just a coincidence (because I only have maybe three other African friends). ---
**Author:** ![punch\_line\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e7dd6/32.png) [@punch\_line\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punch_line_loser)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/25 "2011-08-08T01:36:29Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > What about Katie as K. T. ? My sister goes by this. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/26 "2011-08-08T01:58:02Z")
> [@punch\_line\_loser](#): > > My sister goes by this. Just sayin’. Apropos of the currently active threads in Cafe Society about how we often tend to _think_, incorectly, that we pronounce things a certain way, just because of how they’re spelled. Actually, “KD” **is** a better approximation of how most Americans (though perhaps not most British) say “Katie”. ---
**Author:** ![punch\_line\_loser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e7dd6/32.png) [@punch\_line\_loser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/punch_line_loser)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/27 "2011-08-08T01:59:15Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Apropos of the currently active threads in Cafe Society about how we often tend to _think_, incorectly, that we pronounce things a certain way, just because of how they’re spelled. Actually, “KD” **is** a better approximation of how most Americans (though perhaps not most British) say “Katie”. Fine, but my sister does go by KT, not only because her name’s Katie but because her initials are K.T. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/28 "2011-08-08T02:03:06Z")
> [@punch\_line\_loser](#): > > Fine, but my sister does go by KT, not only because her name’s Katie but because her initials are K.T. Makes sense to me – two for one! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Tyger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Silver\_Tyger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Tyger)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/29 "2011-08-08T03:57:31Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > I’ve seen at least one guy nicknamed Doc because his initials were MD. May want to pursue that tact if you can’t get any good two letter names. Nay. The main character isn’t supposed to realize for a while that her friend who insists on going by what she thinks is his first name with everyone is really going by his initials. (Going by a first name is odd enough because normal interactions are Ms. / Mr. Lastname.) ---
**Author:** ![psychonaut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/psychonaut/32/4655_2.png) [@psychonaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychonaut)\ **Post date:** [August 8, 2011, 8:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/30 "2011-08-08T08:53:40Z")
LNR = Eleanor MLE = Emily ---
**Author:** ![chorpler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chorpler/32/2888_2.png) [@chorpler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chorpler)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/31 "2011-08-09T00:45:57Z")
> [@Silver Tyger Girl](#): > > Dudes, it’s cool. Besides, it reminded me of the Haunted Tank, which is one of the coolest comics ever. (WWII tank haunted by Gen. Jeb Stuart). > > I’m not a thread nitpicker. Heh heh … I didn’t mean to nitpick, I just wanted to clarify that I thought **cochrane** wasn’t actually trying to say that there were letters that sounded like “Jeb,” but had gone a different route. That Haunted Tank comic sounds intriguing. Think I’ll check that out. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/32 "2011-08-09T02:07:43Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > I have two African friends (female) named **Ije** and **Elodie**. That’s right…E.J. and L.O.D.! > > I almost thought it might be an African thing, but they’re from different countries. I think it’s just a coincidence (because I only have maybe three other African friends). Was Elodie from a French-speaking African country? It’s not an unusual French name (Élodie). ---
**Author:** ![J\_Cubed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@J\_Cubed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/J_Cubed)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/33 "2011-08-09T03:24:04Z")
My son is named Aref, which is an Arabic name that happens to sound like my dad’s initials (RF). Sometimes I call him Romeo Foxtrot. In [Snow Crash](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snow_Crash), Y.T. has her named parsed as “[Whitey](http://books.google.com/books?id=RMd3GpIFxcUC&lpg=PA49&ots=27R0NKJPHi&dq=Y.T.%20snow%20crash%20whitey&pg=PA49#v=onepage&q&f=false)”. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [August 9, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645/34 "2011-08-09T03:40:15Z")
Blues-rock musician KT Tunstall’s real name is Katy… but she spells it as though it were initials. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/initials-made-into-names/591645.md?page=1)