---
myst:
  html_meta:
    keywords: LaTeX,bibliographies,noms d'auteurs dans les bibliographies,initiales et bibtex"
---
# Multi-letter initials in BibTeX

If your bibliographic style uses initials + surname, you may encounter a problem with some transcribed names (for example, Russian ones). Consider the following example from the real world :

```bibtex
@article{epifanov1997,
   author = {Epifanov, S. Yu. and Vigasin, A. A.},
   title  = ...
}
```

Note that the "Yu" is the initial, not a complete name. However, BibTeX's algorithms will leave you with a citation --- slightly depending on the bibliographic style --- that reads : "S. Y. Epifanov and A. A. Vigasin, ...". instead of the intended "S. Yu. Epifanov and A. A. Vigasin, ...".

One solution is to replace each affected initial by a command that prints the correct combination. To keep your bibliography portable, you need to add that command to your bibliography with the `@preamble` directive :

```bibtex
@preamble{ {\providecommand{\BIBYu}{Yu} } }

@article{epifanov1997,
   author   = {Epifanov, S. {\BIBYu}. and Vigasin, A. A.},
   title    = ...
}
```

If you have many such commands, you may want to put them in a separate file and
`\input` that LaTeX file in a `@preamble` directive.

An alternative is to make the transcription look like an accent, from BibTeX's point of view. For this we need a control sequence that does nothing :

```bibtex
@article{epifanov1997,
   author   = {Epifanov, S. {\relax Yu}. and Vigasin, A. A.},
   title    = ...
}
```

Like the solution by generating extra commands, this involves tedious extra typing; which of the two techniques is preferable for a given bibliography will be determined by the names in it. It should be noted that a preamble that introduces lots of odd commands is usually undesirable if the bibliography is a shared one.

"Compound" initials (for single names made up of two or more words) may be treated in the same way, so one can enter Forster's rather complicated name as :

```bibtex
@article{forster2006,
  author   = {Forster, P.M. {\relax de F.} and Collins, M.},
  title    = ...
```

The same trick can be played if you're entering whole names :

```{noedit}
...
  author   = {Epifanov, Sasha {\relax Yu}ri and
...
```

(though no guarantee, that either of those names is right, is offered!) However, if you're typing the names in the "natural" (Western) way, with given names first, the trick :

```bibtex
...
  author   = {P.M. {\relax de F.} Forster and
...
```

doesn't work --- "de F. Forster is treated as a compound family names.

:::{sources}
[Multi-letter initials in BibTeX](faquk:FAQ-bibtranscinit)
:::