# What's with all the people named Mr. D---- from W---- in old books?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-people-named-mr-d-from-w-in-old-books/642372>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [November 28, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-people-named-mr-d-from-w-in-old-books/642372 "2012-11-28T15:48:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![yelimS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/54ee81/32.png) [@yelimS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yelimS)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-people-named-mr-d-from-w-in-old-books/642372/1 "2012-11-28T15:48:46Z")

</div>

Its seems always to be irrelevant people and places that only get initials, but I never understood why the authors couldn’t just give them names. I like the style now, because it’s old fashioned, but wasn’t it just distracting back then? Any particular reason?

Example, from Tristram Shandy:

> [@](#):
>
> My father, you must know, who was originally a Turkey merchant, but had  
> left off business for some years, in order to retire to, and die upon,  
> his paternal estate in the county of ----, was, I believe, one of  
> the most regular men in every thing he did, whether 'twas matter of  
> business, or matter of amusement, that ever lived.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**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:** [November 28, 2012, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-people-named-mr-d-from-w-in-old-books/642372/2 "2012-11-28T15:49:55Z")

</div>

It was a convention. The idea was that you were talking about a real person, but didn’t give a name out of respect for privacy. It made things more “realistic.”

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-people-named-mr-d-from-w-in-old-books/642372/3 "2012-11-28T20:37:43Z")

</div>

There are various theories about it. Before the late eighteenth century fiction had mostly been in the form of romances with clearly mythological or historical settings. Contemporary events were more the realm of satirists and newspapers, who would sometimes avoid trouble by referring to their subjects as Mr. S\_\_\_\_\_ and so forth.  
This practice carried over into the then-new form of the novel, the realistic story in a contemporary setting.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\
**Post date:** [November 28, 2012, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-people-named-mr-d-from-w-in-old-books/642372/4 "2012-11-28T21:37:41Z")

</div>

What I think is kind of silly is obscuring dates. I was reading one book (by Anthony Trollope) where in one chapter the year was mentioned to be 18–, in another chapter it was 186-, and in another chapter it was 1869. And those chapters all took place in the same year (or two). Smooth move, Trollope…

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Number](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/number/32/242_2.png) [@Number](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Number)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-people-named-mr-d-from-w-in-old-books/642372/5 "2012-11-30T01:57:44Z")

</div>

Those are just a few of the nine billion names of G-d.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-people-named-mr-d-from-w-in-old-books/642372/6 "2012-11-30T03:05:02Z")

</div>

Catch-22 had a character named Major ------ de Coverley.

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\
**Post date:** [November 30, 2012, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-with-all-the-people-named-mr-d-from-w-in-old-books/642372/7 "2012-11-30T03:38:00Z")

</div>

Moved to Cafe Society.

Colibri  
General Questions Moderator