At what point in one's life/career can one switch from "John B. Smith" to "J. Brian Smith"? Seems like some pretty heavy hitters opt for J. Brian Smith format...
Do you know of anyone who has made this transition? What has to happen in your life for you to want to make this change?
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Intentional or not, this was actually funny.
This has to be a joke...
NOT until MD or SVP/director level. Who do you think you are, CV Whitney? You gotta pay your dues, man.
Sorry to tell you, but the real ballers make this transition before their sophomore year. Anything later is just awkward.
I'm half laughing, but half serious as hell.
Edit: Hmm. I'm starting to consider this now. From 1-10, with 1 being not douchy and 10 being total douche canoe, how douchy would it be for a female mid-career banker to do this? And how douchy for a man in the same position?
SBs for all who respond with a number and a rationale.
Hard 10 for male or female. Changing your preferred name for friends and colleagues randomly for no reason other than sounding more prestigious is ridiculous and instantly renders someone as a complete and utter joke of a human being, in my opinion.
The only exception would be sharing a name with a family member or public figure that could produce a negative connotation. An example would be the unfortunate soul with the name Gerry Sandusky. (Rick Reilly just did an article about him last week.) It would be completely acceptable for him to start going by G. Brian Sandusky, I believe.
e.g. your name is Janet Mary Evans and you've always written it as "Janet Evans"
Janet M. Evans 1/10 (for men: 1/10) Janet Mary Evans 2/10 (for men: 1/10) Mary Evans 3/10 (for men: 2/10) J. M. Evans 8/10 (for men: 7/10) J. Mary Evans 10/10
Of course if you're going to do it, maximize the douche-y-ness and invent an extra middle name to use, e.g. George H. W. Bush or J. R. R. Tolkien
e.g. J. I. M. Evans. And at that point you can just be known as Jim.
Excellent. That's some old-school Oxford douchery right there. And, hmm... extra preppy if I find a way to be known by a man's name.
I want to do this someday. That way my name can be P. P. Henry
L. Ron Hubbard made it work for starting a religion as well. I think this idea has legs.
G. B. Sachs
Unless you've been called Brian your whole life then this is never really an option.
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