As I write on my page on alphabetizing my name, “von Fintel” has a small “v” and it is exceedingly odd for me to see the “v” capitalized – as it probably should be – at the beginning of a sentence or elsewhere capitalization is called for. So, I avoid at all costs putting the name in such environments – for example I very actively avoid starting a sentence with my last name.

Arnold Zwicky has a cool post on such dilemmas over at Language Log. He doesn’t mention last names like mine but discusses names like “iPod”, “bell hooks”, etc.