RE: “Than Merrill” is a person whose nickname is Than and whose whole name is Nathaniel.
Why not call himself Nathan instead?
Or “Nate”? Or “Nat”? Those are all common nicknames for Nathan or Nathaniel.
He can call himself anything he likes. But if a reporter or commentator is going to rant on the internet, he should do the fact-checking expected of journalists who care about their credibility. It took me less than 60 seconds to find out the facts about his name.