How to extract initials from a name using Laravel - string

Question

I have the method below that returns me a list of registered users:
$users = \App\Models\User::all();
It turns out that I would like to present only the initials of the names on that list.
Example:
Carlos Pereira do Nascimento = CN
Marcos Aurelio = MA
Sandra Lopes = SL
How could I do this by getting this data from the list?
Is it possible for me to treat this list by taking only the initials of the variable $ name?

Answer 1

You can use Laravel's accessor to get the initials modifying the following code:
public function getInitialsAttribute(){
$name = 'Carlos Pereira do Nascimento';
$name_array = explode(' ',trim($name));
$firstWord = $name_array[0];
$lastWord = $name_array[count($name_array)-1];
return $firstWord[0]."".$lastWord[0];
}
Now, you can get the initals using {{ $user->initials }}

Answer 2

Something like this should work:
$names = \App\Models\User::pluck('name');
$initials = [];
foreach($names as $name) {
$nameParts = explode(' ', trim($name));
$firstName = array_shift($nameParts);
$lastName = array_pop($nameParts);
$initials[$name] = (
mb_substr($firstName,0,1) .
mb_substr($lastName,0,1)
);
}
var_dump($initials);
Output:
array(1) {
["Carlos Pereira do Nascimento"]=>
string(2) "CN"
["Marcos Aurelio"]=>
string(2) "MA"
["Émile Durkheim"]=>
string(2) "ÉD"
}
Note the use of mb_substr as opposed to regular substr or a string index. This will return correct values for names starting with non ASCII characters like for example "Émile"
echo substr('Émile Durkheim', 0, 1);
// output: b"Ã"
echo 'Émile Durkheim'[0];
// output: b"Ã"
echo mb_substr('Émile Durkheim', 0, 1);
// output: É

Answer 3

For anyone looking for a simple, one-line, framework-agnostic solution:
$initials = preg_filter('/[^A-Z]/', '', $str);

Answer 4

I have just made the following PR to introduce a new Str::initials() String helper function in Laravel framework: https://github.com/laravel/framework/pull/40381
For those who already want to use this before it's accepted/merged, just extend Illuminate\Support\Str with this macro in your AppServiceProvider's boot() method:
Str::macro('initials', fn($value, $sep = ' ', $glue = ' ') => trim(collect(explode($sep, $value))->map(function ($segment) {
return $segment[0] ?? '';
})->join($glue)));
and then just use Str::initials('Foo Bar') or as an Eloquent accessor in your User model:
public function getInitialsAttribute(): string
{
return \Illuminate\Support\Str::initials($this->name);
}
so you can simply use something like {{ Auth::user()->initials }}.

Answer 5

Just Put this 2 line code
function initials($str) {
$ret = '';
foreach (explode(' ', $str) as $word)
$ret .= strtoupper($word[0]);
return $ret;
}

Answer 6

I just wanted to expand the answers above to help others looking to do the same.
Here's an example on what I did.
Create an Accessor in your user model:
public function getNameInitials()
{
$name = $this->name;
$name_array = explode(' ',trim($name));
$firstWord = $name_array[0];
$lastWord = $name_array[count($name_array)-1];
return mb_substr($firstWord[0],0,1)."".mb_substr($lastWord[0],0,1);
}
Then you can access it in your view as {{ $user->getNameInitials() }}
or you could easily access the initials of the authenticated user as follows {{ Auth::user()->getNameInitials() }}