Church Leader Names
The General Authorities, or highest-level leaders of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints present a special case for LDS
naming ways. For many years now, men called to serve in this capacity who are
not already in the habit (if they go by their middle name) have quickly learned
to do so. For example, officially in Church publications and in over-the-pulpit
announcements, “Russell Nelson” is “Russell M. Nelson” and “Russell Ballard” is
“M. Russell Ballard.”
The Church does not officially explain this custom
anywhere, but it may be influenced by at least two factors: (1) many General
Authorities in the past have come from a limited set of inter-related families
and (2) many parents in these families tended to name their sons after noteworthy
previous family members. These two facts made it so men sharing a similar name
have occasionally come to occupy Church leadership positions over the years. Using
initials helps mitigate confusion in such circumstances. Sometimes the whole of
an initialized name needs to be spelled out to avoid confusion. The most famous
example of this is when Church founder Joseph Smith Jr.’s nephew, Joseph Smith,
became a General Authority (and later Church president) and started going by
Joseph F. (Fielding) Smith. When Joseph F. Smith’s son, Joseph F. Smith, became
the General Authority (and later Church president), he spelled out his
initialized name to be called Joseph Fielding Smith (Adding further to this
confusion, Joseph Smith Jr.’s son, Joseph Smith III, was the first president of
the separate Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints). A similar
naming situation happened with the grandson of apostle Ezra T. Benson, Ezra
Taft Benson, who came an apostle and later Church president. This pattern of
initialization also applies to prominent women such as Eliza R. Snow and the
first three 20th century presidents of the Relief Society: Zina D. H. Young (1888-1901),
Bathsheba W. Smith (1901-1010), and Emmeline B. Wells (1910-1921).
Another possible reason for initialization is that it has
come to indicate a certain dignity of high office. Even in informal
conversation, few, if any, Latter-day Saints would think of referring to the
late President Hinckley as “Gordon Hinckley.” It was always “Gordon B. Hinckley,”
if not “the prophet” or “President Hinckley.” The tradition of using initials
for formal purposes was not unknown in 19th century America and still continues
today among public figures and authors. While writing middle initials is
somewhat common in formal settings outside Latter-day Saint circles, the oral
use of them is almost unique to Church members. The desire for dignity may also
influence many Latter-day Saint academic and writers to emulate General Authorities
by using the initial(s) of their less-used given name(s) to adorn their books
and articles. However, Church members generally do not include middle initials
when referring orally to even the most well-known Latter-day Saint scholars and
authors. This practice is most often reserved for General Authorities and is a
subtle, informal marker of respect and recognition of their office. (Eric A. Eliason,
“Nameways in Latter-day Saint History, Custom, and Folklore,” in Perspectives
on Latter-day Saint Names and Naming: Names, Identity, and Belief, ed.
Dallin D. Oaks, Paul Baltes, and Kent Minson [London: Routledge, 2023], 85-86)
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