As
dem bones said in
Pick Titles Carefully,
node titles for
person should be using the person's
full name, with a dot to the middle
initials, if any. So,
William S. Burroughs is the preferred form of
node title.
William S. Burroughs will be found by E2 Search for "William" or "Burroughs".
However, since "." is not an E2 Search Special Character, a node title of W.S.Burroughs will not be found when searching for "William" or "Burroughs"{1}.
Fortunately the examples: A.J. Ayer, T.S. Eliot, A.J. Weberman and A.J. Crowley, all have a space before the surname. Hence an E2 Search by the surnames would find the nodes. So, it may excusable if the noder really did not know the first name of the person.
{1}
That is until The Administration add "." to the E2 Search Special Character and/or allows substring E2 Search.