Is there a name for initials of full name as given name?

[WMcD]

Please recall the famous Samuel A. Mudd. The inital letters for his full name was, S.A.M. This spells out a contraction for his given name.

Is there a name for this?

Do any other historical figures have anything similar?

Clever parents, of course.

Gil

[jdm56]

Slow night in Chi-town, Gil?[]

[boom3]

As a creator and user of acronyms, that term comes to mind. An acronym

can be created from the first letters of the words, and, among the

in-group, it can be phoneticized with unwritten vowels to make it sound

like a legitimate word. I have not encountered the exact concept Gil is

describing as applied to humans, the acronyms I create and use apply to

objects or operations. Maybe the folks at Oxford English dictionary

could help.

[michael hurd]

I had a teacher once, his name was John Krantz. He named his son John Edward Robert Krantz, or J.E.R.K. for short! True story!

[michael hurd]

I had a teacher once, his name was John Krantz. He named his son John Edward Robert Krantz, or J.E.R.K. for short! True story!

I think what boom3 is referring to is called a mnemonic device, where you create a way of remembering long lists and such through the use of acronyoms.

I used this in high school to remember most of the periodic table of elements in science class.

[Speedball]

You arent talking about "nick" names are you?

My real name is Ned Patterson but as far back as I can remember I have been referred to as "Pat", I like Pat better anyway....I mean who in the heck ever heard of Ned?

[Ray Garrison]

Interesting question, Gil. Closest thing I can find is this:

acrostic (?kro'stik) , arrangement of words or lines in

which a series of initial, final, or other corresponding letters, when taken

together, stand in a set order to form a word, a phrase, the alphabet, or the

like. A famous acrostic was made on the Greek for Jesus Christ, God's Son,

Savior: Iesous Christos, Theou Uios, Soter

(ch and th being each one letter in Greek). The initials spell

ichthus, Greek for fish; hence the frequent use of the fish by early

Christians as a symbol for Jesus. There are several alphabetic acrostics

(pertaining to the Hebrew alphabet) in the Bible, e.g., in Ps. 119 and Lamentations. Acrostic verses are common, and very elaborate

puzzles have been devised combining several schemes.

[colterphoto1]

I knew a girl in grade school whose name was Beth Ann Green or BAG for short. Same initials for my hottie assistant Beth, but she's definitely not one you'd need a bag for.....

Michael

[Daddy Dee]

My folks did something like that... after naming me after my father and grandfather... Douglas Edwin Edwards III

They called me "Dee" .... the name by which most folks know me.

[intotubes]

....I mean who in the heck ever heard of Ned?

I have a cousin, quite a bit older than me, named Ned. I only saw him a few times when I was very young. I remember him as a young, tanned, studly type. Kind of a lifeguard/chick magnet type. "Ned" has alwas been a manly mans name in my book. I think I would have preffered it to "Pat" but to each his own.

Although "Pat" beats the pants off of my nickname (shortened last name). No I will not share it with you.