Why do some people go by First Initial, First Name, Last Name?

Because they can.

Because they like their first initial or they want to honor family naming obligations.

Because they’re weird.

A lot of times, it’s because they don’t like their first name, but can’t legally put down their middle name as their first name. So like W. Mark Felt would be a way for a doctor’s office and an insurance company to know that they were talking about the same person, not one guy named Mark and another named William.

The Screen Actors Guild can only have one person per name. So Michael J. Fox was born Michael Andrew Fox, but when he went to register, there was already a Michael Fox, and he didn’t want to be called Andrew or Andy so he came up with the J in honor of Michael J.Pollard.

Good thinking, @papayalily. I hadn’t thought about the SAG connection, but that makes sense.

I still think it’s a little weird (the first initial thing, not the middle).

@Seelix I’ve seen it more in formal settings—like doctors offices—than in the “real world”. However, for J. Michael Straczynski, he goes by J. Michael professionally but Joe with his friends, so maybe it’s a way for him to know how he’s being addressed (like is the email from a fan or a friend) but still help everyone know that they’re talking about the same person. Maybe, I don’t know him or anything…

I had two friends in school that went by their middle name instead of their first name. I could see them writing their first initial now and their full middle name since that is how people always knew them. It was something their parents started and they just stuck with during school. I’m not sure why their parents decided to call them by their middle names instead, I never asked. They weren’t related either, so it wasn’t a family thing.

My brother is named James Paul, but we have called him Paul since he was born. The problem arose when he was in high school and college and getting a drivers license and passport, because he has never gone as “James” or “Jim’. So he has been J. Paul since he was about 16.

There is a rule at Actor’s Equity (the union for stage actors on Broadway) that no two actors can have the same name. So you see: “Phillip Seymour Hoffman” because there was an actor in the 40’s and 50’s named Philip Hoffman.

Our neighbor friend used initials because he hated his given name. A J sounds much better than Ashley Jacob.

Going by my middle name was a decision by my parents. My grandfather did the same thing, though he used his middle name for friends and family, his business workers used his first name. I chose to continue to use my middle name while growing up as I didn’t like my first name and it was a form of teasing by other classmates who tried to figure it out. I’ve never disclosed my first name to friends and though they attempt to guess it, not one has ever been successful (‘starts with R and has 8 letters’ is the only clue I give and I’m 40 now so don’t bother trying). I have seen it as a last name 3 times in my life.
I am doing my family tree now and for me, this is apparently either some family tradition or a Scottish tradition to use one’s middle name as I have seen the middle name used on grave sites frequently – doesn’t make tracing the tree easy!!!
So for your question, the answer may be different for each person.
-R Brent

PS. nowadays it’s a burden with airline travel and such – especially when a client buys my airline ticket which I’ll be dealing with at the airport tomorrow since my gov’t ID has all 3 names on it…. I wonder how Paul McCartney deals with it – or should I properly say John Paul McCartney