# What do you think of your initials/monogram? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 6, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110 "2023-06-06T16:23:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/1 "2023-06-06T16:23:25Z")
I always wanted a pretty one. Get nice towels embroidered. Be all fancy and stuff. Alas, not to be. I wanted to be B.M.W. That would be cool. Right now I’m either a ‘humbug’ or ‘a drop of golden sun’ 🫡 ---
**Author:** ![Zeldar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/b77776/32.png) [@Zeldar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zeldar)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/2 "2023-06-06T16:37:21Z")
Cool topic! Mine is a made-up combination of my initials into a design. I’ve had such a thing since high school or even earlier, I forget how long. As an Art project in school (High if I rememeber it right) I designed a house using my “logo” as a floorplan. Way more of an expensive idea than I would ever be able to afford! A side topic that might be fun to look into, would be the monograms of famous types (like Tiger Woods for instance) that have become trade marks and such. Good luck with the replies! ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/3 "2023-06-06T16:37:47Z")
My granddaughter’s initials are OMG. I don’t know how she feels about it, but I think it’s hilarious. Mine are just meh. Nothing special. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/4 "2023-06-06T16:39:16Z")
Some monograms are your 3 initials in order, say FML for someone cleverly named “First Middle Last”. Other monograms are done more like FLM with the last name in the center, larger, and sometimes in a fancier font. My FML format is OK not great. My FLM format is not harmonious. I’ve never owned, nor wanted, anything monogrammed. Seems an archaic and egomaniacal thing to do. The Great Gatsby had monogrammed stuff. I’m not he, neither would or should anyone be impressed by me trying to ape such nonsense from a century’s distance. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/5 "2023-06-06T18:30:30Z")
I think monographed stuff is cool. Towels, shirt cuffs. Although I think it’s passé unless you live in the Preppy Handbook. I don’t like my monogram. My last name starts with O and it just doesn’t look right. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/6 "2023-06-06T18:45:19Z")
RAC. I wonder if there are any ASS’s or TITs. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/7 "2023-06-06T18:47:22Z")
One of my best friends in college was a hobbyist calligrapher; she created a very nice, simple monogram for me using my initials (MJM). I still use a simplified version of that monogram for when I have to put my initials on a document. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/8 "2023-06-06T18:47:42Z")
Arthur Seymour Sullivan was known to dislike his initials, whereas William Schwenk Gilbert was said to have been quite fond of his. (Source: my father, a noted G&S scholar.) ---
**Author:** ![TruePisces](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/truepisces/32/13628_2.png) [@TruePisces](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruePisces)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 6:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/9 "2023-06-06T18:59:07Z")
I liked making my own monogram with my maiden name. I was able to actually combine the letters into one flowing image. I didn’t think much about my married initials until I started work and they used our initials for something. I had a lot of comments about how I had ADD. Personally, I took it more as it was an indicator of my love of math. I also had a cousin who, when my aunt and uncle were thinking of a name for him, wanted Aarron Scott. But with a last name beginning with S, they decided that changing the first A to an E was a smarter move. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 8:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/10 "2023-06-06T20:51:17Z")
WTF would be awesome. mmm ---
**Author:** ![FinsToTheLeft](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finstotheleft/32/2930_2.png) [@FinsToTheLeft](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinsToTheLeft)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/11 "2023-06-06T21:28:21Z")
Funny story about me… I was born in the early 70s to a lawyer father - monogram on everything. Pen, briefcase, shirts. My parents named me with my first name after my grandfather and my middle name after my great uncle, in the Ashkenazi tradition. Imagine my name was Larry Ewen Gross\*. My dad went to fill out the birth certificate and when he saw my initials would be “LEG”, he said hell no and swapped it to “ELG”. I was always know as Larry, even though it was my middle name. My mother eventually forgave him. I ended up changing it back to LEG just before I turned 18. - not my real name ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/12 "2023-06-06T21:45:22Z")
> [@SuntanLotion](#): > > I wonder if there are any ASS’s or TITs. My assistant was ASS until she got divorced. We use initials a lot in file names and other applications. After a while, you stop snickering. ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/13 "2023-06-06T21:51:39Z")
Which means, of course: Well That’s Fantastic! Right? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/14 "2023-06-06T21:52:58Z")
> [@FinsToTheLeft](#): > > My dad went to fill out the birth certificate and when he saw my initials would be “LEG”, he said hell no and swapped it to “ELG”. I was always know as Larry, even though it was my middle name. My mother eventually forgave him. I ended up changing it back to LEG just before I turned 18. - [My Name Is Larry.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FvLikiVraHE) ---
**Author:** ![tuesdayweld](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ccd318/32.png) [@tuesdayweld](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tuesdayweld)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/15 "2023-06-06T21:57:43Z")
My ex-husband is JRK. What a tell. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2023, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/16 "2023-06-06T22:03:44Z")
My initials (only two, we don’t use middle name initials here) are the same as Jesus Christ’s, Julius Caesar’s and Johnny Cash’s. Do I have delusions of grandeur? You bet! ---
**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:** [June 7, 2023, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/17 "2023-06-07T00:17:42Z")
I developed a glyph of my initials in high school – first and last initials. I still use it when I need to initial something. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/18 "2023-06-07T00:44:27Z")
My late first wife and I had opposite first and middle initials. She took my last name at marriage. So if I as AB Smith, she was BA Smith. It made for some pretty calligraphy. Not that we used it much. My current wife has no middle name and did not take my last name. Which is fine w me attitudinally; wives changing names is a total PITA administratively and a gigantic reminder of the ancient and oh-so-evil “my wimmin is chattel” era. Not her, or my, schtick. Anyhow, her 2 letter monogram and my 3-letter sucketh greatly. My 2-letter with hers is not much better. Bad separately and worse together. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/19 "2023-06-07T13:32:16Z")
One of my coworkers is a pharmacist, and her initials are RPH. (RPh is the professional designation for a pharmacist, like MD for a medical doctor and DDS for a dentist). She didn’t realize when she got married and moved her maiden surname to middle name, that she would end up with initials that were the same as her professional designation. She does NOT sign emails “RPH, RPh.” ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2023, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110/20 "2023-06-07T16:09:55Z")
My initials are mostly fine: I don’t mind the letters and they don’t spell anything, but my parents thought it was a great idea to give my brother and me the same initials. NOT great, especially when we were playing arcade games in the '80s (both of us have three-letter nicknames; we used those instead of our initials). My brother and I also share first and last initials with our dad, and one of our uncles. Not a lot of originality on that side of the family. 🙂 My monogram spells a common first name, so I never use it. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-think-of-your-initials-monogram/985110.md?page=2)