J.R.R. Tolkien’s middle name was Reuel.
His full name was John Ronald Reuel Tolkien. The initials J.R.R. became one of the most recognizable author names in twentieth-century fantasy, appearing on books such as The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings.
“Reuel” was a family name rather than a conventional middle name chosen for its English sound. Tolkien’s father, Arthur Reuel Tolkien, also had Reuel as a middle name. The name ultimately came through the Tolkien family and was used by several relatives.
The name Ronald was Tolkien’s everyday middle name during much of his life, while Reuel was the additional name that appears in his formal full name. Readers sometimes assume the repeated initials stand for two versions of Ronald, but the second R stands for Reuel. Tolkien was generally known in public by his surname and initials rather than by the full three-part name.