: Re: Capital lettering in old Italian names I want to use the name Leonardo da Vinci name for a presentation, but I I can't fit his whole name and would only like to use "da Vinci" My question

@Sue2132873

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His whole name is just "Leonardo". The 'da Vinci' part means "from Vinci". Typically in old days people had just one name and they were further identified by their profession, birthplace or who their father was. Typically the 'da' part is not capitalized because it is just a preposition.

Furthermore contemporary people would not call him just "da Vinci", they should always call him "Leonardo" or "Leonardo da Vinci" if just Leonardo isn't identifying enough. If even that isn't unique enough (like if you're in Vinci, there's probably multiple Leonardos), then he is the son of gentleman Piero, so "Leonardo di ser Piero" or "Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci". But never just "da Vinci".

Of course, in modern days we often apply the modern styling of names to him and treat "da Vinci" as if it was his surname. But still, when used, whether alone or with his name, it should not be capitalized, unless of course it happens at the start of the sentence.

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