# Who is the earliest person we know as Firstname - M.I. - Lastname? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 6, 2024, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200 "2024-05-06T20:19:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![mixdenny](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mixdenny/32/2962_2.png) [@mixdenny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mixdenny)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/1 "2024-05-06T20:19:46Z")
I think of Booker T Washington right away. I know he added on his middle name himself later in life and always called himself by his full name. But after that point we know him as Booker T. I won’t accept Jesus H. Christ. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/2 "2024-05-06T20:24:02Z")
I’ll suggest Susan B. Anthony. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/3 "2024-05-06T20:27:31Z")
Was going to suggest Ulysses S. Grant but it appears Susan B. was born a couple years earlier than him. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/4 "2024-05-06T20:28:48Z")
Robert E. Lee, on the other hand, pre-dates all of the above (born 1807). ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/5 "2024-05-06T20:28:58Z")
But that brings Robert E. Lee to mind and he was born in 1807. eta: ninja’d ---
**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:** [May 6, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/6 "2024-05-06T20:29:11Z")
Gaius Julius Caesar (I’m sure there were earlier examples) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/7 "2024-05-06T20:29:54Z")
Gaius J. Caesar? ---
**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:** [May 6, 2024, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/8 "2024-05-06T20:31:29Z")
Oh. Are we just looking for those with noted M.I. ? Hmm? ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/9 "2024-05-06T20:36:33Z")
Film producer David O. Selznick? (1902-1865) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/10 "2024-05-06T20:36:56Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > Are we just looking for those with noted M.I. ? Yes, AFAICT from the OP. I’m not sure whether the individual has to have been routinely called “Firstname I. Lastname” during their lifetime, or whether it’s sufficient that they be commonly identified as “Firstname I. Lastname” nowadays. But just having a triple-barrelled moniker like “Firstname Initial Lastname” doesn’t cut it, AFAICT. ---
**Author:** ![Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/prof.pepperwinkle/32/13627_2.png) [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Prof.Pepperwinkle)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/11 "2024-05-06T20:39:15Z")
Or, rather John C. Calhoun (1782-1850)? ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/12 "2024-05-06T20:44:17Z")
Doggone it, I was all proud because I found [Thomas L. Jennings](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_L._Jennings) (b. 1791), the first African-American patent-holder who invented an early form of dry-cleaning. I would apply for an easement on the grounds that Jennings is far better worth commemorating than that pro-slavery shit Calhoun, but the thread title says “earliest”, so “earliest” let it be. [ETA: It’s a good thing I didn’t try to DQ entries on the grounds of racist shittitude, because now I’ve found Supreme Court justice Roger B. Taney (b. 1777), the Chief Justice who handed down the Dred Scott decision.] ---
**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:** [May 6, 2024, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/13 "2024-05-06T20:45:30Z")
A couple signers of the constitution had middle initials. (1787) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/14 "2024-05-06T20:50:20Z")
Beck’s right, AFAICT, there are Georgia’s William L. Pierce (b. ca. 1740) and North Carolina’s William R. Davie (b. 1756) and Virginia’s Edmund J. Randolph (b. 1753). Oh, and Maryland’s John F. Mercer (b. 1759). Interestingly, no signers of the Declaration of Independence seem to have had the “Firstname I. Lastname” style. ---
**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:** [May 6, 2024, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/15 "2024-05-06T20:53:14Z")
There has to be people on ships who signed compacts or sailing agreements with M.I.s. And a gazillion persons in the old country with M.I.s. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/16 "2024-05-06T20:58:46Z")
> [@Beckdawrek](#): > > There has to be people on ships who signed compacts According to [Wiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayflower_Compact#Signers), none of the 41 signers of the Mayflower Compact used a Middle Initial. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/17 "2024-05-06T21:13:38Z")
Yeah, other Anglophone countries seem to regard the “Firstname I. Lastname” style as primarily a US custom. And it appears to have developed in the late 18th/early 19th century, AFAICT. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/18 "2024-05-06T21:19:08Z")
> [@Prof.Pepperwinkle](#): > > Film producer David O. Selznick? (1902-1865) AKA Benjamin T. Button? 🤣 (yeah, yeah, typo for 1965, I know 😁) ---
**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:** [May 6, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/19 "2024-05-06T21:32:10Z")
Did Amerigo or Christopher have M.I.s? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [May 6, 2024, 9:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200/20 "2024-05-06T21:32:15Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > Yeah, other Anglophone countries seem to regard the “Firstname I. Lastname” style as primarily a US custom. I did not know that! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-is-the-earliest-person-we-know-as-firstname-m-i-lastname/1001200.md?page=2)