How to get initials from a name
✓ Verified in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 ✓ Verified in Google Sheets (2026-08-30)Turn first and last names into initials, like "Ada Lovelace" → "AL".
The formula
| App | Formula | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Excel (desktop) | =LEFT(A2,1)&LEFT(B2,1) | With names in separate columns. Add UPPER(...) if the source may be lowercase. |
| Google Sheets | =LEFT(A2,1)&LEFT(B2,1) | Identical. |
| LibreOffice Calc | =LEFT(A2,1)&LEFT(B2,1) | Identical. |
How it works
LEFT(text,1) takes the first character of each name and & glues them together — "A" + "L" = "AL". For a full name in ONE cell, take the first letter plus the letter after the space: =LEFT(A2,1)&MID(A2,FIND(" ",A2)+1,1). Add periods with &"." if you want "A.L." style.
Verified, not just documented
We ran =LEFT(A2,1)&LEFT(B2,1) in LibreOffice 25.8.7.3 (headless, with forced recalculation) and it returned AL — exactly the expected result. We then ran the same formulas in Google Sheets, executed 2026-08-30: a formula-only workbook goes into Google Drive, which converts it to a Sheet and recalculates every formula with Google’s own engine, and comes back out as .xlsx carrying the values Google computed. It returned AL for the worked example, the same value LibreOffice produced. Both engines’ numbers on this page are executed results. The Excel formula follows Microsoft’s official documented syntax — we do not run desktop Excel.
Functions used
LEFT — see full Excel, Google Sheets & LibreOffice compatibility for each.
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