I notice the following concerning Harry Truman's middle name 'S' in the
WikiPedia. Both Harry himself, and his presidential library, show the
name with and without the period:


Truman did not have a middle name, but only a middle initial. It was a
common practice in southern states, including Missouri, to use initials
rather than names. Truman said the initial was a compromise between the
names of his grandfathers, Anderson Shipp(e) Truman and Solomon Young.
He once joked that the S was a name, not an initial, and it should not
have a period, but official documents and his presidential library all
use a period. Furthermore, the Harry S. Truman Library has numerous
examples of the signature written at various times throughout Truman's
lifetime where his own use of a period after the "S" is very obvious.

The above is taken from:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Truman

  Ed

On Mon, 2005-09-12 at 15:30, Tom Montgomery wrote:
> Sondra, really appreciate the reply! The thing is, in my case, it is not 
> an initial but a true given "name"! This situation was passed from 
> father to son - the R that is as the E situation was a 
> brother.....weird. It is believed to have originated from a  family 
> dispute at the turn of the century and while one faction wanted to name 
> the child for the mothers maiden surname the other wanted no part of it. 
> The compromise was simply "R" - no period as it is *not* an initial and 
> is not a nickname. Actually I see no real solution to making the name 
> read correctly....... I was just hoping someone may have run into this 
> before.
> Tom
> 
> 
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Sondra Miller-Prowett" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> To: <[email protected]>
> Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 12:31 PM
> Subject: Re: [LegacyUG] Middle name is letter only O/T
> 
> 
> > Tom- I'm in this boat :) My family 'passes' down that initial only 
> > middle
> > name thing. I have been putting a note in the notes field that the 
> > initial
> > is INITIAL ONLY, No Middle name for the people.
> > The US military will type on your papers (I have mine! LOL) Sondra D. 
> > (IO)
> > Miller
> > The (IO) standing of course for initial only. Then the (NMI) for 
> > people with
> > no middle initial or name.
> > I use the period behind the initial as that is customary usage, but I 
> > note
> > it for all the people that this applies to that it is 'initial only'. 
> > My
> > brother-in-law's family did this to him as well. :)
> > take care, Sondra
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Tom Montgomery" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> > To: <[email protected]>
> > Sent: Monday, September 12, 2005 9:44 AM
> > Subject: [LegacyUG] Middle name is letter only
> >
> >
> >> Curious how others may handle this. I have three individuals now of
> >> which two have the letter R, and the other E, as middle "names" - -
> >> these are not initials but an actual given name. How does one 
> >> indicate
> >> as such? One of these indiviuals has told me he uses quotes on his R 
> >> to
> >> show that it is not an initial but this could also construed as a
> >> nickname which it is not. A period is not really acceptable as that
> >> would show it to be a initial but, on the other hand, the letter with 
> >> no
> >> period will just create a lot of confusion and many will just add a
> >> period.. I have explained, in detail, in an event so that covers the
> >> situation but how to show the R or E on the family screen is my 
> >> delima.
> >> Perhaps might be best to not show at all? Don't really like that as 
> >> it
> >> really is a given name.
> >>
> >> Tom M......
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
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