What the signifigance of Ayn Rand's characters with the initials HR?

Question

Howard Roark in the Fountainhead and Hank Rearden in Atlas Shrugged. I'm not a student, just something I've always wondered.

Answer 1

I've sometimes wondered about that myself.  I googled it to see if anyone else knows, but all I found were more questions like yours, and no answers.  None of her known spouses or lovers shared those initials, although it is possible that she had an early love in Russia or California with those initials.  

On the other hand, it may not mean anything at all. Hank Rearden and Howard Roarke are only two characters of several male protagonists throughout her books.  There was also John Galt, Francisco D'Anconia, Leo Kovalensky (from We Are the Living), Andrei Taganov (also WATL), and the guy from Athem had a number, not a name.

If there was a significance to the intials, it looks like Ayn Rand took that secret to the grave.