You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Why are there people in Mac's Photos "People" who I can't add their last names?

There are a couple of people in my Mac's Photos app that I find in "People" that only have first names. I edit them, add a last name or select a full name in the drop down menu and a few seconds later, the names revert to only first name.


What's going on here?

iMac 24″, macOS 12.5

Posted on Aug 5, 2022 6:36 PM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Aug 6, 2022 7:35 AM

Photos is using short names for people from your Contacts. If you have two people called Bill, the first Bill you name in Photos will be abbreviated to the short name "Bill", while the next Bill will be shown with the full name.


Try to change the Settings for "Short Names" in the Contacts.app.

After I changed the Contacts > Settings > General > Short Name format to "Full Name", all names could again be entered with the full name and the full name is shown. It will depend on your system version, if Photos will respect the setting for the short name given in Contacts. In the earlier system versions I had to avoid to use the name suggestions from the Contacts, to prevent Photos from shortening the names to the first name, but since Monterey Photos seems to respect the settings in Contacts.


Similar questions

6 replies
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Aug 6, 2022 7:35 AM in response to Howard Brazee

Photos is using short names for people from your Contacts. If you have two people called Bill, the first Bill you name in Photos will be abbreviated to the short name "Bill", while the next Bill will be shown with the full name.


Try to change the Settings for "Short Names" in the Contacts.app.

After I changed the Contacts > Settings > General > Short Name format to "Full Name", all names could again be entered with the full name and the full name is shown. It will depend on your system version, if Photos will respect the setting for the short name given in Contacts. In the earlier system versions I had to avoid to use the name suggestions from the Contacts, to prevent Photos from shortening the names to the first name, but since Monterey Photos seems to respect the settings in Contacts.


Aug 6, 2022 7:48 AM in response to léonie

I'll try that. Just now I was able to change one of the two names on my iPad (that I couldn't change on my Mac). I don't have a contact for the other name. It's interesting that both people would have their correct names in drop-down menus, but it doesn't matter whether I selected the drop-down name or typed it in, it didn't keep.


I just created a contact for that other person without a short name. I was able to change his name. It's funny that there are two drop-down selections for the same name for many people in Photos.


Then I dragged a photo to one of my shared albums so that Contacts could access it to have a photo. Then I removed that photo from that shared album.


Well, their names are complete now, thanks.



Why are there people in Mac's Photos "People" who I can't add their last names?

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.