diff --git a/api/src/Contacts.php b/api/src/Contacts.php
index 0bb1f0c29e..8699eb29ce 100755
--- a/api/src/Contacts.php
+++ b/api/src/Contacts.php
@@ -2758,7 +2758,7 @@ class Contacts extends Contacts\Storage
 			$email = strtolower(current(Mail::stripRFC822Addresses([$_GET['email']])));
 
 			if (!($contact = current($this->search(['contact_email' => $email, 'contact_email_home' => $email],
-				['contact_id', 'email', 'email_home', 'n_fn', 'n_given', 'n_family', 'contact_files', 'etag'],
+				['contact_id', 'email', 'email_home', 'n_fn', 'n_given', 'n_family', 'contact_files', 'etag', 'account_lid'],
 				'contact_files & '.self::FILES_BIT_PHOTO.' DESC', '', '', false, 'OR', [0, 1]) ?: [])) ||
 				!self::hasPhoto($contact))
 			{
@@ -2785,12 +2785,17 @@ class Contacts extends Contacts\Storage
 			}
 			if(is_array($contact))
 			{
+				$use_account_lid = empty($contact['account_lid']) && empty($contact['account_id']) ? 0 :
+					$GLOBALS['egw_info']['user']['preferences']['common']['avatar_display'] ?? 0;
+
 				header('Content-type: image/jpeg');
-				$contact['jpegphoto'] =  Contacts\Lavatar::generate(array(
+				$contact['jpegphoto'] =  Contacts\Lavatar::generate([
 					'id' => $contact['id'],
 					'firstname' => $contact['n_given'],
-					'lastname' => $contact['n_family'])
-				);
+					'lastname' => $contact['n_family'],
+					'account_lid' => $contact['account_lid'] ??
+						(empty($contact['account_id']) ? null : Accounts::getInstance()->id2name($contact['account_id'])),
+				], null, 128, $use_account_lid);
 			}
 		}
 
diff --git a/api/src/Contacts/Lavatar.php b/api/src/Contacts/Lavatar.php
index d357971ab0..0448afa49b 100644
--- a/api/src/Contacts/Lavatar.php
+++ b/api/src/Contacts/Lavatar.php
@@ -54,7 +54,8 @@ class Lavatar
 	 *		array (
 	 *			'firstname' => [userFirstname],
 	 *			'lastname'  => [userLastname],
-	 *			'id'		=> [user id]
+	 *			'id'		=> [user id],
+	 *          'account_lid' => [username],
 	 *		)
 	 * @param array $_color = null an array of RGB color, default
 	 * is nul to get a random color from color library.
@@ -65,21 +66,27 @@ class Lavatar
 	 *			0  // BLUE
 	 *		)
 	 * @param int $_size = 128 image size, default size is 128
+	 * @param int $use_account_lid 0: use initials, >0 use this number of chars from account_lid
 	 */
-	public static function generate($_content = null, $_color = null, $_size = 128)
+	public static function generate($_content = null, $_color = null, $_size = 128, int $use_account_lid=0)
 	{
-		// firstname
-		$firstname = isset($_content['firstname'])? $_content['firstname'] : '';
-		//lastname
-		$lastname = isset($_content['lastname'])? $_content['lastname'] : '';
-		// id
-		$id = isset($_content['id'])? $_content['id']: '';
+		$firstname = $_content['firstname'] ?? '';
+		$lastname = $_content['lastname'] ?? '';
+		$id = $_content['id'] ?? '';
+		$account_lid = $_content['account_lid'] ?? '#'.$_content['id'] ?? '';
 
 		// Array of RGB color as background color
 		$bgcolor = $_color ? $_color : self::_getBgColor($firstname.$lastname.$id);
 
 		// Letters to be shown
-		$text = strtoupper(mb_substr($firstname, 0, 1).mb_substr($lastname, 0, 1));
+		if ($use_account_lid)
+		{
+			$text = mb_strtoupper(mb_substr($account_lid, 0, $use_account_lid));
+		}
+		else
+		{
+			$text = mb_strtoupper(mb_substr($firstname, 0, 1).mb_substr($lastname, 0, 1));
+		}
 
 		//create an image
 		$image = imagecreatetruecolor($_size, $_size);
@@ -93,7 +100,7 @@ class Lavatar
 		// create a rectangle
 		imagefilledrectangle($image, 0, 0, $_size, $_size, $bg);
 
-		$fontsize = $_size / self::$_FONT_SIZE_RATIO;
+		$fontsize = $_size / (1.1*$use_account_lid ?: self::$_FONT_SIZE_RATIO);
 
 		$box = imagettfbbox($fontsize, 0, EGW_SERVER_ROOT.self::$_FONT_PATH, $text);
 
diff --git a/preferences/inc/class.preferences_hooks.inc.php b/preferences/inc/class.preferences_hooks.inc.php
index 6cbb83d0a7..2bf53b296c 100644
--- a/preferences/inc/class.preferences_hooks.inc.php
+++ b/preferences/inc/class.preferences_hooks.inc.php
@@ -322,6 +322,17 @@ class preferences_hooks
 				'admin'   => False,
 				'default' => 'lastname',
 			),
+			'avatar_display' => [
+				'type'    => 'select',
+				'label'   => 'What to display for an avatar, if there is no photo',
+				'name'    => 'avatar_display',
+				'values'  => [
+					'0' => lang('Use initials from first and last name'),
+					'2' => lang('Use first %1 letters from username', 2),
+					'3' => lang('Use first %1 letters from username', 3),
+					'4' => lang('Use first %1 letters from username', 4),
+				],
+			],
 			'show_currentusers'     => array(
 				'type'  => 'check',
 				'label' => 'Show number of current users',
diff --git a/preferences/lang/egw_de.lang b/preferences/lang/egw_de.lang
index a0784ca9ae..d9e01d90f5 100644
--- a/preferences/lang/egw_de.lang
+++ b/preferences/lang/egw_de.lang
@@ -202,7 +202,10 @@ two factor auth is already setup.	preferences	de	2-Faktor-Authentifizierung ist
 unit of displayed font sizes: either "px" as used eg. for web-pages or "pt" as used in text processing.	preferences	de	Einheit für angezeigte Schriftgrößen: entweder "px" wie z.B. bei Webseiten verwendet oder "pt" wie in der Textverarbeitung üblich
 uppercase letters	preferences	de	Großbuchstaben
 use default	preferences	de	Vorgabe benutzen
+use first %1 letters from username	preferences	de	Benutze die ersten %1 Buchstaben des Benutzernamens
+use initials from first and last name	preferences	de	Benutzer die Initialen von Vor- und Nachnamen
 users choice	preferences	de	Benutzerauswahl
+what to display for an avatar, if there is no photo	preferences	de	Was soll als Avatar angezeigt werden, wenn es kein Foto gibt
 when you can select multiple options, should the option list stay open until you close it, or close after you pick an option.	preferences	de	Wenn Sie mehrere Optionen auswählen können, soll die Optionsliste geöffnet bleiben, bis Sie sie schließen, oder geschlossen werden, nachdem Sie eine Option ausgewählt haben.
 when you say yes the home and logout buttons are presented as applications in the main top applcation bar.	preferences	de	Wenn Sie hier Ja auswählen, werden in der Hauptnavigationsleiste oben zusätzlich Buttons für die Startseite und zum Abmelden angezeigt.
 which charset should be used for the csv export. the system default is the charset of this egroupware installation.	addressbook	de	Wählen Sie hier den Zeichensatz für den CSV Import/Export. Der Standard-Zeichensatz ist der Zeichensatz Ihrer EGroupware Installation.
diff --git a/preferences/lang/egw_en.lang b/preferences/lang/egw_en.lang
index 3c35899bbf..9ba13dea57 100644
--- a/preferences/lang/egw_en.lang
+++ b/preferences/lang/egw_en.lang
@@ -202,7 +202,10 @@ two factor auth is already setup.	preferences	en	Two Factor Auth is already setu
 unit of displayed font sizes: either "px" as used eg. for web-pages or "pt" as used in text processing.	preferences	en	Unit of displayed font sizes: either "px" as used eg. for web-pages or "pt" as used in text processing.
 uppercase letters	preferences	en	uppercase letters
 use default	preferences	en	Use default
+use first %1 letters from username	preferences	en	Use first %1 letters from username
+use initials from first and last name	preferences	en	Use initials from first and last name
 users choice	preferences	en	Users choice
+what to display for an avatar, if there is no photo	preferences	en	What to display for an avatar, if there is no photo
 when you can select multiple options, should the option list stay open until you close it, or close after you pick an option.	preferences	en	When you can select multiple options, should the option list stay open until you close it, or close after you pick an option.
 when you say yes the home and logout buttons are presented as applications in the main top applcation bar.	preferences	en	Show Home and Logout buttons as applications in the top bar.
 which charset should be used for the csv export. the system default is the charset of this egroupware installation.	addressbook	en	Select character set for the CSV import/export.