On 6 Jan 2021 at 11:39:54 GMT, ""NY"" wrote:

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
It's an interesting difference between UK and US: here in the UK middle
names and initials are rarely used - almost never in the printed name
below a handwritten signature or in the salutation ("Dear ...") on a
letter. And very rarely in official lists (examination results etc). And
not on signs on office doors. In the US, a middle initial seems to be
mandatory.

But in the UK very often used in a nickname; DNA - Douglas Adams, for
example. Or his one-time classmate who wrote the worst poetry: PNMG.

The best nickname (nominative determinism?) was the head of department in
the electronic engineering department where I worked. He was known as Bill
Taylor but his nickname was J-Omega. Then I saw his initials and the penny
dropped: JWT (W=Bill). Electronic engineering formula of quantities that
vary over time often have terms that involve j omega t (square root of minus
1, angular frequency = 2 pi f, time).

Ah yes, nominative determinism...

The Tree Protection Officer in the local authority where my cousin lives is
(or at least was then) a Mr. Branch.

And an upholsterer living and working near Crawley (West Sussex) some forty
years ago was a Mr Comfort.
--
Robert

Robert wrote:
On 6 Jan 2021 at 11:39:54 GMT, ""NY"" wrote:

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
It's an interesting difference between UK and US: here in the UK middle
names and initials are rarely used - almost never in the printed name
below a handwritten signature or in the salutation ("Dear ...") on a
letter. And very rarely in official lists (examination results etc). And
not on signs on office doors. In the US, a middle initial seems to be
mandatory.

But in the UK very often used in a nickname; DNA - Douglas Adams, for
example. Or his one-time classmate who wrote the worst poetry: PNMG.

The best nickname (nominative determinism?) was the head of department in
the electronic engineering department where I worked. He was known as Bill
Taylor but his nickname was J-Omega. Then I saw his initials and the penny
dropped: JWT (W=Bill). Electronic engineering formula of quantities that
vary over time often have terms that involve j omega t (square root of minus
1, angular frequency = 2 pi f, time).

Ah yes, nominative determinism...

The Tree Protection Officer in the local authority where my cousin lives is
(or at least was then) a Mr. Branch.

And an upholsterer living and working near Crawley (West Sussex) some forty
years ago was a Mr Comfort.

Perhaps his grandson, Dean Ian Sean Comfort, is now in charge of railway
seat design?

Mike Humphrey wrote:
On Wed, 06 Jan 2021 09:31:21 +0000, Sam Wilson wrote:
On of the UoEd’s schools used to use login names based on initials but
they were at least 3 characters long. People without a middle name got
an “x� inserted, so S.... W.... (not me) was “sxw�. It looked odd
when you first saw one - “oh, I didn’t know Steve’s middle name was
Xavier...�

According to DVLA, my middle initial is "9". Yes, the number nine. Driver
numbers are based on your surname plus first and middle initials, but if
you don't have a middle name you get a "9" instead.

Does your driver number end x99xx, where x is a letter? I have two middle
names and thus three initials but my driver number ends with ii9xx where ii
are my first two initials and xx are apparently random letters.

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as
Spit the dummy to reply

"Sam Wilson" wrote in message
...
Arthur Figgis wrote:
On 05/01/2021 18:17, Sam Wilson wrote:
Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 16:22:35 on Tue, 5 Jan
2021,
Tweed remarked:

It's just a cultural thing, like many Europeans have names like
Magnus
Magnus*son*, and innumerable similar Slavic suffices.

Slavic? I thought it came from the Icelandic. There surnames come from
the
first name of the parent.

Yes, hence the use of the word "similar" (not "identical")

I’ve recently found this fascinating and instructive:
https://www.w3.org/International/questions/qa-personal-names


The Afghan politican Abdullah Abdullah allegedly only had one name
originally, but he got so fed up with people from elsehwere asking for
his other name that he decided it was easiest to double it so he had one.

George Brown, the tired and emotional Labour politician, became Lord
George-Brown on his elevation to the peerage because he still wanted to be
called George Brown, even though peers are conventionally known only by
their surnames. He had to change his name to George George-Brown to do
it,
though. Boutros Boutros-Ghali did something similar but I don’t know the
details.

Harmar Nicholls, MP for Peterborough and father of Audreh Roberts from
Corrie, did the same.

James

On Thu, 07 Jan 2021 10:13:59 +0000, Sam Wilson wrote:
Mike Humphrey wrote:
On Wed, 06 Jan 2021 09:31:21 +0000, Sam Wilson wrote:
On of the UoEd’s schools used to use login names based on initials but
they were at least 3 characters long. People without a middle name
got an “x� inserted, so S.... W.... (not me) was “sxw�. It looked
odd when you first saw one - “oh, I didn’t know Steve’s middle name
was Xavier...�

According to DVLA, my middle initial is "9". Yes, the number nine.
Driver numbers are based on your surname plus first and middle
initials, but if you don't have a middle name you get a "9" instead.

Does your driver number end x99xx, where x is a letter? I have two
middle names and thus three initials but my driver number ends with
ii9xx where ii are my first two initials and xx are apparently random
letters.

Yes - M99xx. There seems to be some disagreement over what the second 9
means but Wikipedia says that it is to distinguish otherwise-identical
numbers. It starts at 9 and then counts down if needed to avoid a
duplicate number. I guess it's only likely to happen if twins have the
same first initial, or an unlikely coincidence.


Mike

"Mike Humphrey" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 07 Jan 2021 10:13:59 +0000, Sam Wilson wrote:
Mike Humphrey wrote:
On Wed, 06 Jan 2021 09:31:21 +0000, Sam Wilson wrote:
On of the UoEd’s schools used to use login names based on initials but
they were at least 3 characters long. People without a middle name
got an “x� inserted, so S.... W.... (not me) was “sxw�. It looked
odd when you first saw one - “oh, I didn’t know Steve’s middle name
was Xavier...�

According to DVLA, my middle initial is "9". Yes, the number nine.
Driver numbers are based on your surname plus first and middle
initials, but if you don't have a middle name you get a "9" instead.

Does your driver number end x99xx, where x is a letter? I have two
middle names and thus three initials but my driver number ends with
ii9xx where ii are my first two initials and xx are apparently random
letters.

Yes - M99xx. There seems to be some disagreement over what the second 9
means but Wikipedia says that it is to distinguish otherwise-identical
numbers. It starts at 9 and then counts down if needed to avoid a
duplicate number. I guess it's only likely to happen if twins have the
same first initial, or an unlikely coincidence.

Not necessarily twins - anyone of the same gender, with the same name(s),
born on the same date. Does it provide enough disambiguation to cope with
common names (the stereotypical "John Smith") of whom there may be a *lot*
born on the same date.

NY wrote:
"Mike Humphrey" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 07 Jan 2021 10:13:59 +0000, Sam Wilson wrote:
Mike Humphrey wrote:
On Wed, 06 Jan 2021 09:31:21 +0000, Sam Wilson wrote:
On of the UoEd’s schools used to use login names based on initials but
they were at least 3 characters long. People without a middle name
got an “x� inserted, so S.... W.... (not me) was “sxw�. It looked
odd when you first saw one - “oh, I didn’t know Steve’s middle name
was Xavier...�

According to DVLA, my middle initial is "9". Yes, the number nine.
Driver numbers are based on your surname plus first and middle
initials, but if you don't have a middle name you get a "9" instead.

Does your driver number end x99xx, where x is a letter? I have two
middle names and thus three initials but my driver number ends with
ii9xx where ii are my first two initials and xx are apparently random
letters.

Yes - M99xx. There seems to be some disagreement over what the second 9
means but Wikipedia says that it is to distinguish otherwise-identical
numbers. It starts at 9 and then counts down if needed to avoid a
duplicate number. I guess it's only likely to happen if twins have the
same first initial, or an unlikely coincidence.

Not necessarily twins - anyone of the same gender, with the same name(s),
born on the same date. Does it provide enough disambiguation to cope with
common names (the stereotypical "John Smith") of whom there may be a *lot*
born on the same date.

I’d always assumed that that was what the final xx was for - 26 x 26, or
30-something squared if you include digits except for 0 and 1, perhaps, 676
or more combinations. Anyone got enough data to hand to do a back of the
envelope calculation as to what the odds are of 676 J.Smiths being being
born on a single day?

Sam

--
The entity formerly known as
Spit the dummy to reply

On 6 Jan 2021 at 23:19:13 GMT, "Recliner" wrote:

Robert wrote:
On 6 Jan 2021 at 11:39:54 GMT, ""NY"" wrote:

"Roland Perry" wrote in message
...
It's an interesting difference between UK and US: here in the UK middle
names and initials are rarely used - almost never in the printed name
below a handwritten signature or in the salutation ("Dear ...") on a
letter. And very rarely in official lists (examination results etc). And
not on signs on office doors. In the US, a middle initial seems to be
mandatory.

But in the UK very often used in a nickname; DNA - Douglas Adams, for
example. Or his one-time classmate who wrote the worst poetry: PNMG.

The best nickname (nominative determinism?) was the head of department in
the electronic engineering department where I worked. He was known as Bill
Taylor but his nickname was J-Omega. Then I saw his initials and the penny
dropped: JWT (W=Bill). Electronic engineering formula of quantities that
vary over time often have terms that involve j omega t (square root of
minus
1, angular frequency = 2 pi f, time).

Ah yes, nominative determinism...

The Tree Protection Officer in the local authority where my cousin lives is
(or at least was then) a Mr. Branch.

And an upholsterer living and working near Crawley (West Sussex) some forty
years ago was a Mr Comfort.

Perhaps his grandson, Dean Ian Sean Comfort, is now in charge of railway
seat design?

Now there's a thought...! Ouch.
--
Robert

On 06/01/2021 23:19, Recliner wrote:
Robert wrote:

And an upholsterer living and working near Crawley (West Sussex) some forty
years ago was a Mr Comfort.

Perhaps his grandson, Dean Ian Sean Comfort, is now in charge of railway
seat design?

No, that job went to Simon Attica.

--
Basil Jet recently enjoyed listening to
1999 - Ghosts Of Dead Aeroplanes - Prolapse

Mike Humphrey wrote:
On Thu, 07 Jan 2021 10:13:59 +0000, Sam Wilson wrote:
Mike Humphrey wrote:
On Wed, 06 Jan 2021 09:31:21 +0000, Sam Wilson wrote:
On of the UoEd’s schools used to use login names based on initials but
they were at least 3 characters long. People without a middle name
got an “x� inserted, so S.... W.... (not me) was “sxw�. It looked
odd when you first saw one - “oh, I didn’t know Steve’s middle name
was Xavier...�

According to DVLA, my middle initial is "9". Yes, the number nine.
Driver numbers are based on your surname plus first and middle
initials, but if you don't have a middle name you get a "9" instead.

Does your driver number end x99xx, where x is a letter? I have two
middle names and thus three initials but my driver number ends with
ii9xx where ii are my first two initials and xx are apparently random
letters.

Yes - M99xx. There seems to be some disagreement over what the second 9
means but Wikipedia says that it is to distinguish otherwise-identical
numbers. It starts at 9 and then counts down if needed to avoid a
duplicate number. I guess it's only likely to happen if twins have the
same first initial, or an unlikely coincidence.


Is it that unlikely that more than one, say, S B Smith would be born on the
same day?


Anna Noyd-Dryver