Why do people sign their names with only their initials? In my field at least, a lot of people sign their papers with just their initials. For example, the author list would be "J. Doe and S. Omeone". Why do people do this? It seems that it's just a recipe for creating homonyms-related problems. I can't see a reason to not include the full first name in the publication.
There are many reasons not to include a full first name.


You don't like or identify by your first name.
The journal format demands it.
You are trans-gender and have changed your first name, but not the initial or your surname.
You are a minority in your field and hiding your first name means hiding clues to your minority status and possibly increasing the odds of your work being taken more seriously. (Mostly, hopefully, this reason is now outdated.)