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How would you abbreviate surnames starting with Mc/O/D?
How would I abbreviate Jane deLuze?
If I were listing a numbe of people by initials, like John Doe or John Smith, I could use JD, JS etc.... but how would I do deLuze?
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2You may want to take a look at this question: english.stackexchange.com/questions/3259/…– SoutaSep 17, 2012 at 20:29
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Which country are you writing the list in? It will make a difference to the answer.– Tim LymingtonSep 17, 2012 at 22:13
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2 Answers
If possible, I would use JdL. If absolutely constrained to two letters, then JL.
The MLA guideline for Spanish names says:
The Spanish de is not used before the last name when it stands alone.
example: Zayas, Maria de (María de Zayas)
The Chicago Manual of Style has an elaboration on this advice:
When the particle de appears in a Spanish name, the family name, under which the person is indexed, may be either the preceding or the following name (depending in part on how a person is known).
In the common spelling of my middle name (dePano), the de does not stand alone, and I've observed these variations:
- In the USA, my middle initial is considered to be D; on my driver's license, it's printed in all caps as DEPANO. My family has always spelled it DePano.
- My relatives in my native country consider the initial to be P, and continue to spell it dePano. It's filed under P.
Here, the "how a person is known" clause of the CMoS guideline comes into play, as well as the locale.
- In the USA, abbreviating Jane deLuze as J. D. likely would not cause any confusion. Americans would tend to hear the name as starting with D.
- A Spanish-speaking locale might require J. L., or even J.D.L., to follow convention. (For example, I've seen Pedro de la Rosa abbreviated as Pedro D.L.R.)
