# List the people you personally know (or have known) who go by two initials rather than a first name **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2017, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442 "2017-01-18T02:01:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/41 "2017-01-18T19:46:06Z")
Males BJ CJ FJ (Francis Jr.) ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/42 "2017-01-18T19:49:39Z")
Male went by J.R. in college. He ran into problems ordering things by phone. JAR, even Jerry was on the pizza order. Then Dallas and the who shot J.R. craze. Jr can be a frustrating name. My cousin went by J.T. his entire adult life. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/43 "2017-01-18T19:54:39Z")
WD, my uncle. ---
**Author:** ![Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/malleus_incus_stapes/32/3293_2.png) [@Malleus\_Incus\_Stapes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malleus_Incus_Stapes)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/44 "2017-01-18T19:58:14Z")
Guy where I work goes by YD. ---
**Author:** ![davida03801](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5e925/32.png) [@davida03801](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davida03801)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/45 "2017-01-18T20:46:12Z")
Guys BG CJ Girl and now woman CC ---
**Author:** ![XT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xt/32/456_2.png) [@XT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XT)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/46 "2017-01-18T20:54:20Z")
Well, aside from myself and my dad (both XT’s), I know a TK, a CJ and an XC. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/47 "2017-01-18T21:20:40Z")
Only one I can think of is AJ… Though, I suppose that he might not count, since I think the J was short for Junior, but I’m not sure. I know he and his father shared the first name Andrew, but I’m not 100% sure if he was Andrew Junior or, say, Andrew James. ---
**Author:** ![Wednesday\_Evening](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b2d939/32.png) [@Wednesday\_Evening](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wednesday_Evening)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/48 "2017-01-18T21:35:34Z")
Male: XC TJ JR AG Female: CJ GG CC ---
**Author:** ![Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a183cd/32.png) [@Barkis\_is\_Willin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barkis_is_Willin)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/49 "2017-01-18T21:49:19Z")
Female: CC KC Male: AJ CJ KJ PJ RJ TJ JP JW (JDub) CW ---
**Author:** ![melondeca](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@melondeca](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/melondeca)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/50 "2017-01-18T22:07:32Z")
My brother-in-law goes by BJ. It doesn’t actually stand for anything; his legal first name is BJ. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/51 "2017-01-18T23:30:19Z")
One male CJ. Fellow of retirement age. One female AJ. Younger than me, a receptionist. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2017, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/52 "2017-01-18T23:50:29Z")
I know a JT, even though everyone also knows him as John T\_\_\_\_\_\_. A colleague in my field is well known as RJ, although he doesn’t use it himself. If anyone’s interested in the peculiarities of people who dropped first names, go by first or dual initials or otherwise mucked with their given (but not family) names, I wrote a small book on the topic that I update from time to time. PM for Kindle link. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/53 "2017-01-19T00:15:16Z")
> [@melondeca](#): > > My brother-in-law goes by BJ. It doesn’t actually stand for anything; his legal first name is BJ. Did you marry into the Hunnicutts? ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 4:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/54 "2017-01-19T04:07:03Z")
Male AJ – a first grader at the school where I teach. AJ – a jerk of a guy I went to college with. TJ – a kid who played soccer with my daughter lo these many years ago. JJ – a kid I taught a few years back. JQ – my cousin’s husband (these are actually his first and last initials) JR – the brother of a kid I taught back when Interesting that they all have at least one J. I don’t think I focused too hard on J as one of the letters…I know baseball players who go by initials often (not always) have a J. Off the top of my head: JA Happ, JC Martin, JD Drew, JJ Putz, JR Richard, JT Snow; AJ Pierzynski, AJ Ellis, AJ Burnett, BJ Upton, CJ Cron, DJ Dozier, RJ Reynolds; I’m sure there are others. Women EP – my grandmother. She was rarely called this by friends or family, who used other nicknames for her, but she very rarely used her actual first and middle names; if she introduced herself formally it was as E.P., and that was the name on her checks etc. She’s really the only female I can think of who used her initials in this way. ---
**Author:** ![Buttercup\_Smith](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/buttercup_smith/32/473_2.png) [@Buttercup\_Smith](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buttercup_Smith)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/55 "2017-01-19T05:26:35Z")
My father was O.L. which was pronounced Oh well.😃 My brother-in-law is H.E. which is short for Horace Elmer. :eek: I would be called HE too if that was my name. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/56 "2017-01-19T05:29:18Z")
> [@Sefton](#): > > I used to work for a software manager who called himself JB. Bastard. I also worked with a J.B. Total fuck-wit. Damn, that is an awful lot of J’s. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2017, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/57 "2017-01-19T13:14:28Z")
I actually did for a while. I moved to Austin in 1966, moved back to Houston in 1979. During most of the time in Austin, folks usually called me by initials: CR. When I moved back to Houston, folks called me Chuck. The only people that call me by my real first name are my sister, my wife when she’s really pissed and Indian telemarketers. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2017, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442/58 "2017-01-20T02:51:19Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > Male > AJ Hey, I know AJ too! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/list-the-people-you-personally-know-or-have-known-who-go-by-two-initials-rather-than-a-first-name/777442.md?page=2)