So I was trying to figure out what makes a good middle initial. Not a good middle name, but a good initial. Some famous people known by their middle initials are:
[name]Michael[/name] J. [name]Fox[/name], [name]John[/name] C. [name]Reilly[/name], [name]Edward[/name] R. Murrow, [name]Susan[/name] B. [name]Anthony[/name], [name]Warren[/name] G. [name]Harding[/name], [name]Hunter[/name] S. [name]Thomson[/name], [name]John[/name] D. Rockefeller, [name]John[/name] F. [name]Kennedy[/name], [name]Franklin[/name] D. [name]Roosevelt[/name]
It seems me to me that A. would not be a particularly strong initial, although I can’t quite pin down why. Vowels in general strike me as a bit weaker.
Visually, certain letters also seem more appealing to me than others. [name]John[/name] Q. Public, for instance, looks great to me even though it sounds a bit funny. On the flip side, I. seems very visually blah.
Then I got to thinking that maybe it isn’t the particular letter, maybe it’s just the rhythm of the name as a whole. For instance, try swapping around the initials in the above list. [name]Edward[/name] F. Murrow and [name]Michael[/name] S. [name]Fox[/name] don’t sound nearly as good. My husband pointed out that it could be that middle initials improve a name whenever a name doesn’t have any strong plosive sounds in it. [name]John[/name] [name]Reilly[/name] is very soft and C. is very plosive.
What do you think? [name]Do[/name] you like certain initials more than others? What makes a good initial? What makes a lame one?