Only Known by Initials: Difference between revisions

{{trope}}

 

Some people are [[Only Known by Their Nickname]], others are on [[Last-Name Basis]], while some people are primarly known to the public by their initials or their initials plus their last name. The reasons may vary. Perhaps they have an [[Embarrassing First Name]] they'd rather not use, and maybe they have an [[Overly Long Name]] that needs to be abbreviated. Others may think it sounds classier, and some may prefer the fact that it is more gender neutral.

* [[Robert Heinlein]]'s ''The Number of the Beast''. One of the characters is named D.T. ("Deety") Burroughs. She goes by her initials because she's embarrassed by her real first and middle names: Dejah Thoris (her father Jacob was a fan of the [[John Carter of Mars]] books).

* Y.T. in ''[[Snow Crash]]'', though she does explain what it stands for once, to an incidental character who heard it as "Whitey" and is considering taking offense.

** In [[The Film of the Book]], teen Garp tries to convince his girlfriend that it stands for "Terribly Sexy."

* Members of the V.F.D. in ''[[A Series of Unfortunate Events]]'' are referred to only by their initials to preserve anonymity. This results in complications, as ''[[Lemony Snicket the Unauthorized Autobiography|The Unauthorized Autobiography]]'' demonstrates during a transcript of a meeting, and in ''The Penultimate Peril'' when a total of three characters have the legitimate and undisguised initials {{spoiler|J.S.}}.

== [[Music]] ==

* ZP Theart, former lead singer of [[Dragon Force (video game)]]. Rumour has it that "ZP" is legally his first name, though.

* KD Lang. Although in some lyrics to her songs she refers to her actual first name (ex. "The Mind of Love": ''"Where is your head, Kathryn?"'')

* Soul Coughing's M. Doughty, although once the band broke up, he started releasing solo albums as Mike Doughty.