I am proofreading texts at the moment that feature several people with a 'von' or a 'de' in their surnames, which are generally always lower case. However, the author has decided to keep these lower case even at the start of a sentence after a full stop, for example: "He then returned to attend Oxford University. de Havilland did not enjoy his experience there." It looks really strange to me but I can't decide if I should correct it?!
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You take your instructions from one of: the publishing house, the author, the advice provided in an industry-accepted style guide. But not from random strangers on the Internet. This one advises leaving the name fragments uncapitalised.– High Performance MarkCommented Jul 3 at 6:31
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As another random stranger I would point out that the Wikipedia article on Wernher von Braun has a sentence beginning with "Von". I would do it that way. But I would preserve the upper/lower structure of "dBASE". Go figure.– PeterCommented Jul 3 at 7:13
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Probably a duplicate. See this and a bit less relevant this. Note that it depends on the language (e.g. Dutch has distinctive rules). So you need to specify the nationality of this person. When it's not clear-cut you'll have to rely on style guides etc.– Stuart FCommented Jul 3 at 8:48
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@HighPerformanceMark commented
You take your instructions from one of: the publishing house, the author, the advice provided in an industry-accepted style guide. But not from random strangers on the Internet. This one advises leaving the name fragments uncapitalised.
This random stranger advises capitalising the name fragments. Capital letters are the major visual clue for the start of a new sentence.
However, to demonstrate that this is a matter of opinion, I attempted to find guidance.
Fowler (1926) doesn't appear to mention it
Swan, Practical English Usage (2005) doesn't appear to mention it
Burchfield, New Fowler (1996) has a fairly extensive treatment of capitalisation but doesn't mention this aspect of how to treat names. He mentions Hart's Rules.
Hart's Rules is now the Oxford Guide to Style ed Robert Ritter (2002). That has an entire chapter on "Capitalization and the treatment of names," and does contain specific guidance for de and other similar particles:
[...] In accordance with French practice, de should not have an initial capital (de Candoïle, de Taïleyrand-Péngord), except when Anglicized (De Quincey, de Vinne) or at the beginning of a sentence. [...]
As a Dutch prefix to a proper name, van, van den, van der are usually not capitalized except at the beginning of a sentence [...]
As a Germanic prefix to a proper name, von usually has no initial capital,except at the beginning of a sentence.
The Guardian Style Guide doesn't mention it, but points towards Collins English Dictionary for anything that isn't covered. The dictionary doesn't cover the matter.
So: I think it's reasonable to say this is a matter of opinion. However, where an opinion has been expressed in the references I have available, it is to capitalise at the beginning of a sentence. It's likely that that's because of the strong visual clue which capital letters provide.
He then returned to attend Oxford University. De Havilland did not enjoy his experience there.
answered Jul 3 at 7:19
