# People who abbreviate their first name… **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 22, 2022, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-abbreviate-their-first-name/963281 "2022-04-22T21:17:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Folacin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folacin/32/3195_2.png) [@Folacin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folacin)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-abbreviate-their-first-name/963281/82 "2022-05-23T20:32:18Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > I had an uncle whose middle name was different from his father, but it started with the same initial. My grandfather was John Amadeus, and he hated his middle name. He named his son John Austin - I was probably 40 years old before I found out uncle Jack wasn’t a jr. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2022, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-abbreviate-their-first-name/963281/83 "2022-05-23T22:04:39Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > So I guess I’m asking how these people are all getting away with F. Middlename Lastname, because it never worked for me. On official documents, I just spell out my name in full, First Middle Last, and am reconciled to getting tax forms and stuff sent to me First M. Last. ---
**Author:** ![mtnmatt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mtnmatt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mtnmatt)\ **Post date:** [May 24, 2022, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-abbreviate-their-first-name/963281/84 "2022-05-24T19:30:07Z")
I have a work colleague named Ellen, and she signs her email LN ---
**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:** [May 24, 2022, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-abbreviate-their-first-name/963281/85 "2022-05-24T21:47:52Z")
I had one too! No longer a work colleague, but still a friend, and she still signs herself that way. I once saw Massachusetts license plate LOI MLN. We were parked at a rest stop and the driver was surprised, but delighted, when I greeted her by name. ---
**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:** [May 25, 2022, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-abbreviate-their-first-name/963281/86 "2022-05-25T02:51:24Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > > > Are there any other examples of somebody who stopped using a pseudonym as they became famous? > > Not exactly the same, but Dwayne Johnson shifted away from a pseudonym as he went from “famous” to “very famous.” He was credited using his wresting pseudonym, “The Rock,” in his early movies (like _The Scorpion King_ and _Walking Tall_), then shifted to using “Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson” around 2006, and then to just “Dwayne Johnson” from 2008 on. The same for John Mellencamp. His agent gave him the name “John Cougar,” which he hated. After his career took off, he started calling himself “John Cougar Mallencamp” and then to his real name. Edith Marie Blossom Macdonald was the sister of Jeanette Macdonald, but billed herself as Marie Blake. She left acting for a time and married Clarence Rock. When she returned, she used her married name and billed herself as Blossom Rock and became a TV icon. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/people-who-abbreviate-their-first-name/963281.md?page=4)