# "\[letter\]J" as a name **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 20, 2015, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137 "2015-04-20T19:32:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/21 "2015-04-21T03:21:52Z")
I know a TJ and the J stands for Junior. Is J so common as the second initial because of that?.. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/22 "2015-04-21T03:59:52Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > I know a TJ and the J stands for Junior. > > Is J so common as the second initial because of that?.. Good point. I would say yes. I can think of 3 examples off the top of my head! ---
**Author:** ![Teach-me-not](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a4c791/32.png) [@Teach-me-not](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teach-me-not)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/23 "2015-04-21T11:47:19Z")
I know an AJ, DJ, JJ (a politician), MJ, PJ (a nickname of obscure origins), and VJ. And LJ, if you count the _Prison Break_ character. In none of these names, save for LJ, does J stand for Jr. ---
**Author:** ![hotflungwok](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/edb3f5/32.png) [@hotflungwok](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hotflungwok)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/24 "2015-04-21T14:50:15Z")
I met a woman at a gaming convention who’s nametag said ‘C Lastname’. I asked her what the C stood for, and she said :“It doesn’t stand for anything, my parents were hippies and thought it looked good.” ---
**Author:** ![Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8491ac/32.png) [@Fool\_in\_the\_Rain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fool_in_the_Rain)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/25 "2015-04-21T16:32:06Z")
My cousin’s son has his namesake, but they call him NJ (J=Junior) Also: BJ Hunnicutt > [@](#): > > His full name remained a mystery throughout the series. He claimed (in the Season 7 episode “Lil”) - perhaps in jest - that he was named after his mother Bea and father Jay (hence Bea-Jay = B.J.). Hawkeye, for one, did not accept that explanation. Everyone one believes this is true though. > **[Captain B.J. Hunnicutt](https://mash.fandom.com/wiki/Captain_B.J._Hunnicutt)** > > "B.J. Hunnicutt… Clean cut, family, even temperament… In spite of that I really like the guy." \[~Hawkeye, about B.J. (Out Finest Hour)\] "I'm a temporarily misassigned civilian." \[~B.J. to Clete Roberts (The Interview)\] Captain B.J. Hunnicutt is a... ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/26 "2015-04-21T18:25:20Z")
I knew an EJ in high school. His first and middle names were Edward Jennings. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/27 "2015-04-21T18:43:05Z")
I do community theater, and was recently in a show directed by a woman who went by J.J. What her actual name is, I still have no idea. We called her “J” for short. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/28 "2015-04-21T22:42:53Z")
I am incredibly dubious about the tale of a required middle name. I have a relative without one and there’s never been a problem. It’s common enough that no one should have a real issue with it. I think the reason “J” is used like this is that it is similar to the “-y” ending on many names. It gives it the first name (or initial) a bit of a diminutive feel. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2015, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/29 "2015-04-21T22:51:06Z")
Zero of the people in my immediate family have middle names. No one has ever been hassled about it. ---
**Author:** ![Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Springtime\_for\_Spacers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Springtime_for_Spacers)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/30 "2015-04-22T02:44:52Z")
**B** J? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/31 "2015-04-22T03:40:38Z")
> [@Leaper](#): > > “For which it’s relatively common.” > > I’m asking why it isn’t more common for a lot of other common letters. J’s the most common letter for a given name to start with. That’s got to be a factor. (Baby Name Voyager is my cite…) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/32 "2015-04-22T03:55:03Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > I’m a JJ, for real. I was in a 2nd grade class with two other Jessicas with the same last initial so we became Jessica B, Jessi B and JJ B. I tried to shake it in middle school but it’s still my name 30 years later. > > In my current social group we had Jesse (a guy) who dated Jessica, and he lived with Jessi (short for Jessica) and there was also me (already with JJ) and a sometimes-friend who went by Jess (also short for Jessica). There was also a tangental friend (friend of the sometimes-friend) by the name of Jennifer J., who apparently was sometimes called JJ and I’m told we were often confused. > > The solution to this problem of Jesse living with Jessi is that Jesse became J. Or often “Jeh.” > > Lucky for us, our other good friend Jason moved away. Cuz you know “Jay” can be short for “Jason” and parties would have just been awful. > > Anyway, in my circle, the nickname “J” is imperative because everyone’s name starts with J and once you go through the variations on Jessicas, Jennifers, Jasons and Jamies you’re out of things to call people! “Yma, Uta; Yma, Ava; Yma, Oona; Yma, Ona; Yma, Ida; Yma, Ugo; Yma, Abba; Yma, Ilya; Yma, Ira; Yma, Aga; Yma, Eva.” ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [April 22, 2015, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137/33 "2015-04-22T21:47:29Z")
My late grandpa (the one I cried about in MPSIMS) went by “SJ,” with only a very few people calling him Sam. I’ve known or known an AJ, BJ, CJ, JJ, LJ, PJ, RJ, and TJ. And there’s always O.J. Simpson, M.J. Watson and D.J. Tanner the letters that just seem completely wrong to me are GJ, HJ, WJ, and XJ. The ones that seem weird are FJ, IJ, QJ, UJ, VJ, and YJ. I guess that leaves EJ, KJ, NJ, and ZJ as perfectly normal. I don’t detect a pattern in any of that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/letter-j-as-a-name/718137.md?page=1)