# Who doesn't use their first name at all? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 9, 2014, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905 "2014-02-09T19:01:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**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:** [February 10, 2014, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/21 "2014-02-10T01:13:35Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > But the Army refused to recognize W. H. as a name… I’ve heard that the Army, at least at one time, would issue tags with initials followed by “only” - that is, your gramps would be W only H only Kitchen, or whatever. The guy who told this story was in a troop with an RB Somebody, and he became universally known as Ronly Bonly Somebody. Truth/accuracy not certified. Nor is the tale of BJ Hunnicut. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/22 "2014-02-10T01:19:39Z")
> [@steveroo](#): > > As an adult I use the first initial/middle name construction, and have experienced the predictable logistical headaches. This is something that I have never been able to understand. If you don’t want to use your first name (for whatever reason), why in the world do you use your first initial? It’s vastly simpler to drop that altogether and just use your middle name. ---
**Author:** ![Flyer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/flyer/32/7298_2.png) [@Flyer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flyer)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/23 "2014-02-10T01:22:21Z")
> [@dougie\_monty](#): > > My full legal name is Larry Douglas Montgomery. But my Dad’s first name was Harry and my older brother’s is Gary; so my parents always called me by my middle name. So does everyone else. Besides, I didn’t want personal identification with Larry of the Three Stooges. I once had a brief business encounter with a guy whose first name was Moe. I was sorely tempted to ask if his parents were Three Stooges fans, but refrained. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/24 "2014-02-10T01:56:25Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > This is something that I have never been able to understand. If you don’t want to use your first name (for whatever reason), why in the world do you use your first initial? It’s vastly simpler to drop that altogether and just use your middle name. I do it too sometimes especially on resumes or formal letters. It is a stylistic issue plus it lets people know that you want to be called by your middle name rather than your first name. It isn’t that uncommon and it tends to get the message across very efficiently. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/25 "2014-02-10T02:18:32Z")
[Gallagher uses only his last name](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallagher_(comedian)). ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/26 "2014-02-10T02:25:55Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > [Gallagher uses only his last name](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gallagher_(comedian)). Not entirely true. When he ran for Governor of California, he was listed as “Leo Gallagher” on the ballot. (Meanwhile, billboard model Angelyne was on the same ballot and was listed by just the one name, so there was no “you must list two names” requirement.) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/27 "2014-02-10T02:31:56Z")
I was born with two middle names, one beginning with an A and the second one beginning with a P. When only one middle initial is allowed, like on most forms, my initials would spell R.A.T. On many early legal forms, like my USA citizenship naturlization papers, only the A is listed. As a young kid in elementary school I did not, of course, like the RAT thing, so when I was around 12 or so I said screw it, I’m just going to drop A and only use P. So everywhere I went or signed up for, I used only P. At 16, driver’s license, and that worked. When I joined the Marines at 19, same thing. And when I got my passport later, too. I have never looked back. This is not a big deal because it’s a change only in middle name, and yet A and P are on my birth certificate so I could always point to that if I had to. But it’s been 40 years so far. I’ll take P with me to my grave. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/28 "2014-02-10T02:41:17Z")
> [@That\_Don\_Guy](#): > > Not entirely true. When he ran for Governor of California, he was listed as “Leo Gallagher” on the ballot. (Meanwhile, billboard model Angelyne was on the same ballot and was listed by just the one name, so there was no “you must list two names” requirement.) Oh yeah I forgot about that, back in the Grey Davis recall election. Wikipedia’s writeup of that uses only his last name though. > [@](#): > > Running for Governor (as an independent) in the 2003 California recall election, Gallagher finished 16th out of 135 candidates with 5,466 votes. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/29 "2014-02-10T02:58:29Z")
Teller only uses his last name. ---
**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/30 "2014-02-10T03:10:01Z")
> [@araminty](#): > > This is such an American thing. I was befuddled when I moved to Florida from Australia, and, for my job, started meeting lots of kids and enrolling them in a recreation program. I’d ask the parents what the kid’s name was, and they’d say, “William Henry Harper Charles Jackson, only he goes by Charlie.” > > Bizarre, never came across anything like it in Aust or Europe. If you want to call your kid Charlie, name them Charlie, or Charles if you must. I dunno. I’m from the UK, and my dad goes by a contraction of his middle name. My ex-wife also uses her middle name, and she is English. So I’m not sure it’s just Americans that do this. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/31 "2014-02-10T06:32:25Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’ve heard that the Army, at least at one time, would issue tags with initials followed by “only” - that is, your gramps would be W only H only Kitchen, or whatever. The guy who told this story was in a troop with an RB Somebody, and he became universally known as Ronly Bonly Somebody. > > Truth/accuracy not certified. Nor is the tale of BJ Hunnicut. This snopes page mentions Ronly Bonly Jones. > **[Have Babies Been Named After Embarrassing Medical Terms?](https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/funny-names/)** > > Did a woman name her baby with an embarrassing medical term after overhearing nurses use the word? I’ve always gone by my middle name because that’s what my parents have called me since birth. Pretty much everyone I know outside immediate family and my wife have no idea it’s my middle and not first name. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/32 "2014-02-10T06:42:28Z")
When LIberace (born Wladziu Valentino Liberace) appeared on Groucho Marx’ program _You Bet Your Life,_ he said he was one of few people allowed to register as a voter with only one name. Friends usually knew him as “Lee” Liberace. ---
**Author:** ![Pabitel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bbce88/32.png) [@Pabitel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pabitel)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/33 "2014-02-10T16:53:58Z")
Neither my wife’s father nor her paternal grandfather use their given names. Her dad uses only his initials (DK) and her grandpa uses just “Bud” which has no relationship to his actual given name. Her dad is in his 60s and grandpa in his 80s. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/34 "2014-02-10T16:57:55Z")
The late comedian/author Steve Allen told of his son Steve Allen Jr. gaining a middle name when he registered at the U of California. To indicate his lack of a middle name, he wrote “(None).” A clerk mistook it for Wonel, so that’s how UC knew him, Steve Wonel Allen, Jr… ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/35 "2014-02-10T17:09:24Z")
My husband uses his middle name because his first name is Milton. You would too. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/36 "2014-02-10T17:21:13Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > This is something that I have never been able to understand. If you don’t want to use your first name (for whatever reason), why in the world do you use your first initial? It’s vastly simpler to drop that altogether and just use your middle name. It’s so people understand that, say, your driver’s license says Milton Zsofia’s Husband, and your credit card says M. Zsofia’s Husband, and it’s more obvious that those are the same two people. Otherwise there’s more confusion. Because things like your passport and DL will always have your full real name on them. ---
**Author:** ![Doyle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doyle/32/439_2.png) [@Doyle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doyle)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/37 "2014-02-10T17:25:09Z")
I go by a shortened version of my unusual middle name. A real pain in the ass. However, I do get many compliments on it. ---
**Author:** ![RickG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rickg/32/5174_2.png) [@RickG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickG)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/38 "2014-02-10T17:37:57Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I’ve been Rick all of my life (well, Ricky when I was little) […] Me, too! Rick is actually a syllable, but not a standard diminutive, of my middle name (it’s not Richard). My legal name comes from my paternal grandfather, who died before I was born. The name is old-fashioned and aggressively English in the way that many early 20th century American Jewish names are, though I was born in the 60s. My mother was not fond of the name, so she started calling me Ricky at birth. Except for a few elementary school teachers by whom I was so intimidated that I didn’t speak up to tell them to call me by my nickname, no one who knows me uses my legal first name. I do use my legal name on all ID, bank accounts, credit cards, taxes, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/39 "2014-02-10T17:39:19Z")
> [@Amateur\_Barbarian](#): > > I’ve heard that the Army, at least at one time, would issue tags with initials followed by “only” - that is, your gramps would be W only H only Kitchen, or whatever. The guy who told this story was in a troop with an RB Somebody, and he became universally known as Ronly Bonly Somebody. > > Truth/accuracy not certified. Nor is the tale of BJ Hunnicut. [The father of a member of this board](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=1379996&postcount=9) had the same problem. Just sayin’. ---
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2014, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905/40 "2014-02-10T23:29:40Z")
> [@Flyer](#): > > This is something that I have never been able to understand. If you don’t want to use your first name (for whatever reason), why in the world do you use your first initial? It’s vastly simpler to drop that altogether and just use your middle name. I use my first initial because I want to. I don’t need more of a reason than that. As **Zsofia** and **Shagnasty** mentioned, it’s helpful in situations that might involve one’s full name (passports, tax returns, medical records, etc.). That first initial is an important clue for someone scrolling through a huge alphabetical list of names on a computer screen. But my primary reason for using the first initial is that I like it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-doesnt-use-their-first-name-at-all/680905.md?page=3)