F. Paul Jones
I think that first name must be REALLY bad to make it just an initial. Then I start coming up with all the names it *could* be and really just want to ask the person what it is. 
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LOL!
I know an F. something something, he was Francis like his dad but went by his middle name. That's typically a good reason to go by the middle name- parent has the same first name!
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Yeah this always confuses me a little. Like, if you hate your first name so much that you want to go by your middle name, why bother with the first initial?
Plus, it makes me curious! What could it be?
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I think, oh they must be from Texas. I worked with several guys that used that convention.
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I do the same thing too. Some of our Indian contract people do this with their email addresses. I feel like an idiot when I can't pronounce the name they shortened a la email. My brother sort of does this because he goes by his middle name when being addressed professionally.
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@looch: ha! I've always wondered if it was a Texas thing. You see it all the time down here.
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I think it's pretentious. Like, why not just go by Paul Jones. Why the "F"?
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I assume that they are just more fond of their middle names.
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I just assume their first name is a family name.
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I agree with @kjpugs. He probably just goes by his middle name but wants to make clear that it's NOT his legal first name. Or that he thinks he's written the great American novel. One or the other.
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In the south I feel like people often name their children with the intention all along to call them by their middle name. But I just don't get it... If that's what you want to call the kid then name him that!!
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I think some people use it in professional/legal type settings because they have to. Say, to be identified, for example my work the email you're given goes off of your legal name, so even if you go by Scott, but your first name is francis. So your email is francis.smith@company, so maybe then you put in your email signature "F. Scott Smith" so they realize you go by your middle name.
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@redsmarties: As mentioned before, my brother goes by his middle name. He's named after our paternal grandfather. Growing up, he just didn't look like his first name, but more like his middle name. I've always known him by his middle name. Very few people address him by his first name. This is one of the reasons why we made sure that LO looked like his name.
ETA: Both my brother and I are Midwestern born.
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@rattles: Me too. I assume it's to avoid the "I'm Larry, this is my brother Darrell, and this is my other brother Darrell" type situations.
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Yup I see that a ton here in texas. Commonly with J. For some reason.
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It's definitely a southern thing. But I've had a couple of students who did that, and it made me feel awkward- like, do I call you F? Paul? F. Paul? Haha.
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I'd guess their first name is their father's name and they go by their middle to differentiate and eventually they just used the initial instead.
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I like it. F. Scott Fitzgerald...
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@MamaMoose: haha I know someone who wanted to name their kid a specific name that started with an A, and had the middle name chosen as well... when they realized the initials spelled ASS. So they swapped the middle and first name. He's called by his middle name as a result! Win-win lol Other than that - yeah I don't get why you plan to call someone by their middle name.
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My grandfather went by D. Middlename lastname(everyone called him Middlename though). I never asked why he went by D, instead of using his first name, I'll have to ask. I do know that when my youngest brother was born, my parents named him my grandfathers first name, and my gram was pissed! She said that's not name he goes by, he goes by his middlename.
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@Mrs. Pen: I don't get it either! My aunt was legally Amy Suzanne but went by Sue. It confused me so much as a kid and I didn't believe her when she said her "real name" was Amy.
Chloe's middle name is Anne, after my aunt.
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@cascademom: yeah, my dad is the same (goes by middle name), but I've never seen the first initial? Regional maybe?
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I don't really give it a lot of thought. It never occurred to me to wonder. If I had to guess, I'd say the person has the same first name as their father and goes by their middle name, but professionally/legally has to be ID'd be their whole name.
The only person I know of who does this is an attorney, in practice with his father of the same name, so he does it to avoid confusion.
His father is (made-up names!) Ethan Samuel Jones, and he is E. Samuel Jones. But goes by Sam if you know him well enough.
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