Curious; it looks like his background is New England. In my mind the use of letters (can't really call them initials) as the actual name is a pattern that's more associated with the South of the US. Whether to include periods and/or spaces seems to be variable.

(Remember Johnny Cash? Originally named J. R. Cash; he only expanded the "J" to "John" when he joined the Air Force, as they wouldn't allow the single letter; and AFAIK never did expand the "R". See also Harry S Truman: the "S" does not stand for any one name.)