The "S" in Harry S. Truman's middle name does not stand for anything. Both Martha and John Truman felt that their son's middle name should be a tribute to the boy's grandfather, but they could not decide whether to name the boy for Anderson Shippe Truman, John's father, or for Soloman Young, Martha's father. After much debate the couple finally compromised in giving the boy the singular letter "S" as a middle name, that way each of the two grandparents could tell everyone that their grandson had been named after him.
