About Short Name on iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch

Use Short Name to change how the names of your contacts appear. Then choose a contact's first name, last name, or nickname instead of the full contact name.

About Short Name

You can use Short Name on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch. By default Short Name is on. The Short Name settings will extend to Mail, Messages, Phone, and some third-party apps. Here's an example of how Short Name appears in Messages:

To turn off Short Name, tap Settings > Contacts > Short Name.

About Nicknames

Contacts are listed with First, Last, and Company fields, but you can add a Nickname field. If you have Prefer Nicknames on and the contact has a nickname, you'll see the nickname entry. 

To add a nickname:

  1. Open the Phone app and tap Contacts.
  2. Tap the contact you want to view, then tap Edit.
  3. Scroll down and tap add field > Nickname.
  4. Add a nickname and tap Done.

To remove a nickname:

  1. Go to the Contacts app.
  2. Tap the contact that you want to view, then tap Edit.
  3. Tap the nickname field, then tap .
  4. Tap Done.

Learn more

If you're using an Exchange account for your contacts, incorrect letters and numbers might appear instead of the contact's name. This can happen if Contacts uses an Exchange attribute instead of the Nickname field. To resolve this, tap Settings > Contacts > Short Name and turn off Prefer Nicknames. The standard contact name should appear.

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