Census entries can easily have initials instead of complete names. Keep this in mind when querying census databases and remember that the census is not the only record where a complete name may not be used. 
Census entries can easily have initials instead of complete names. Keep this in mind when querying census databases and remember that the census is not the only record where a complete name may not be used.
This happened alot in the South in the mid 1800’s.
Makes it fun to find folks with last names like ‘Smith’ and common first names that generate initials like “ML” and “LM” and so on.
Yes it does make common names more difficult to find.