[Tex/LaTex] BiBTeX Name Order

Question

When I compile my bibliography it lists the names as "John Smith" instead of "Smith, John". How do I change this? By the way, I am using BibDesk.

Answer 1

As @egreg put in his comment, the appearance of names in the reference list is managed by the bibliography style.

To give a simple example of this using the .bib file:

@book{abk,
      author = "Adam Man and Eve Woman",
      title = "This book",
      publisher = "Men \& Women",
      year = 2025
}

The .tex file

\documentclass{article}
\bibliographystyle{alpha}
\begin{document}
Found in \cite{abk}.

\bibliography{sample2}
\end{document}

produces the output

but the .tex file

\documentclass{article}
\bibliographystyle{acm}
\begin{document}
Found in \cite{abk}.

\bibliography{sample2}
\end{document}

, which differs only in the \bibliographystyle line, produces the output