Initials suddenly appearing in contact "nickname" field and Messages (new thread)

The Title above pretty much says it all - about 10 days ago many of my text threads started displaying only initials where before the full name had displayed. Very irritating. I finally figured out that something added initials to the "nickname" field in each affected contact. I am absolutely certain that I did not do this.


I sync my contacts with Google contacts. Maybe Google did something?


So, any idea what is going on here Apple?


Let the finger pointing begin... :}

iPhone 11 Pro, iOS 17

Posted on Jan 4, 2024 08:57 PM

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Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Jun 17, 2024 03:38 PM

Settings, contacts, short names, then uncheck prefer nickname.

for some reason all my contacts had initials show up for short name and that changed all names on iMessage screens.

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8 replies

Jan 4, 2024 11:33 PM in response to rwalla

Neither Apple nor Google are responsible for this. They are occupied with more significant tasks.


If you haven't already, I recommend looking into this.


If you feel an unauthorized person/app is remotely using, controlling or monitoring your device, then that is possible only if you have done one or more of the following Don'ts...


  1. Don't hand over an iPhone to kids or to a stranger without Enabling Guided Access
  2. Don't share Apple IDs
  3. Don't Jailbreak
  4. Don't share sensitive information pertaining to your device
  5. Don't give in to Phishing
  6. Don't plug in your device in Airports and Public places through third-party cables and trust the device. Beware of Juice Jacking. (Especially in India)
  7. Don't leave your iPhone unlocked and unattended in public places like offices, schools, malls, etc.


If one of the above is true then quickly change the Apple ID Password and Return iPhone settings to their defaults.





Jan 4, 2024 11:33 PM in response to rwalla

rwalla wrote:


So, any idea what is going on here Apple?

This is a user-to-user public forum.


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Jan 5, 2024 07:21 AM in response to SravanKrA

That’s possible, but I am well aware of things like malware and phishing. I see no evidence that is the case. I’m guessing it’s much more likely that Google, Microsoft or Apple has done something that messed things up. (It’s possible that it’s something in the Microsoft universe since I also sync contacts to Outlook on a windows computer, but I see no field for “initials” in the outlet contacts so there aren’t even any initials to sync there.) Like I said, this could easily devolve into finger pointing- but let’s not so quickly assume that it’s not one party or another.

Jan 18, 2024 09:42 AM in response to rwalla

This started with my MacBook Pro after the latest update. My contacts are in Google and I use Outlook for Mac. It only happens in Messages. Some full names appear and some initials. CLEARLY, Messages is pulling from the "initials" field from my Google contacts. Because when I erase the initials in the contact, the full name appears in Messages. However, I do not feel like editing all of my contacts.

BTW - that is a joke about "They are occupied with more significant tasks". My boss would love to hear me tell them that answer for something I SCREWED UP!

Apple, fix the issue you created...pretty please with sugar on top.

Apr 25, 2024 08:27 AM in response to rwalla

I know that this is an older thread but did you ever find a resolution? Yesterday some [but not all] emails and tests on my iPhone some started appearing with only with the sender's initials rather than full names. However, this isn't happening when I view the same text and email on my laptop. Also, prior emails from these people have been changed from their full name to their initials. I didn't do any updates or make any changes. The only thing I can think of is that it started happening after I logged into Outlook on my laptop, which I rarely do. I have since logged out and it doesn't make sense to me that its only happening on my iPhone and not my MacBook Pro.

Jul 27, 2024 09:07 AM in response to rwalla

Same issue here just happened yesterday - It was the first time I had setup MS outlook on both macbook and loaded the outlook app on iphone.

are there setting to change this back - in messages, it appears to have replaced the message participants that have longer names with initials? Really annoying when you have family members with the same initials.

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Initials suddenly appearing in contact "nickname" field and Messages (new thread)

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